Path of Good and Evil Book Two
by Lady Zemaria
Summary: Picking up two years later, Naruto returns to the Leaf. Zemaria and Shikamaru are close to married and surprise; Zemaria is pregnant. But all doesn't go quite according to plan when Zem is abducted by the Akatsuki. After losing Shikkie's baby and getting pregnant with Itachi's, she's put on an S ranked mission to infiltrate the Organization.
1. Chapter 1: Naruto's Return

Chapter One

Naruto's Return

Two years had passed since Naruto left the Village with Jiraiya. Shikamaru and Zemaria were busy with planning their wedding and the Chuunin Exams were starting up again. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were in the Village to assist with the Exams. With all the things going on, Naruto though loud as he was actually was able to come in the Village undetected. The only ones who noticed were Kotetsu and Izuma who were on duty at the main gates.

"Man it feels so good to be back!" Naruto stretched his arms up and smiled.

"Naruto? Hey, you're back!" Kotetsu said happy to see him.

Naruto went walking around the Village. It felt so nostalgic after being gone for two years. He jumps to the top of a pole and looks around. Tsunade's face had been carved into the mountain with the other Hokage faces. Shikamaru was the first to catch sight of Naruto as he was walking along with Temari.

"Huh? N-Naruto?" He asked looking up to the pole Naruto was on.

Naruto looked down, "Hey Shikamaru!"

He jumped down smiling. He noticed Shikamaru was with Temari. After the attack on the Leaf two years ago, the Sand Village had become allied with the Leaf and broke off their alliance with the Sound. Shikamaru looked bored like always. Temari seemed more sophisticated than those years ago. Naruto had a new look too.

His clothes were orange and black instead of his old outfit of orange and blue with white on the jacket. Jiraiya left him to see Tsunade. He wanted to report on his progress since they had left the Village and report with Intel on the Akatsuki. Sakura made a quick trip to the main gates to obtain status reports from Kotetsu and Izuma.

"Sakura, have you seen yet?" Izuma asked.

"Huh? Seen what?" She asked in confusion.

Kotetsu smiled, "Take a look around town and maybe you'll find out."

Sakura was still confused and obtained the reports from them. As she was walking around the Village she finally came across Naruto. He was still talking to Shikamaru and Temari.

"Yeah, Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba all of us original nine rookies are now Chuunin. Also, Neji, Tenten, and Lee are now Jounin," he told him.

"What!? No way! Seriously?" Naruto sounded disappointed.

Shikamaru laughed, "Basically you Naruto are the only Gennin left of us."

Naruto gasped, "Hold on, what about Gaara? And Zemaria? Is Zemaria still a Chuunin?"

"Gaara? Oh, he's Kazekage now," Temari told him.

Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro all were basically the Kazekage. Gaara was the official leader of the Sand Village though. Shikamaru told him that while he was away, he and Zemaria found a place of their own and were living together. She was still a Chuunin but would be taking the Jounin Exam in about a week. She insisted on Naruto being Shikamaru's best man for the wedding even though his best friend was actually Chouji.

"So Zemaria is going to take the exam to become a Jounin and she asked you to have me as your best man for your wedding?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah, that's right. Sakura is going to be the maid of honor. The bridesmaids are going to be Hinata, Ino, Tenten, Anko and Temari. I've chosen Chouji, Kiba, Lee, Kakashi, and Asuma as my groomsmen. I didn't choose Shino or Neji because let's face it, they wouldn't really put on a smile even for a wedding."

Naruto laughed lightly. Shikamaru also mentioned Konohamaru was going to be the ring bearer and Moegi the flower girl. The wedding would be one week after Zemaria was to take the Jounin Exam. Sakura stopped in her tracks seeing Naruto. He was taller than she remembered and his clothes were different. The headband was different too. This had black fabric instead of blue like he used to.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura ran over.

He turned around, "Sakura? Sakura! It's great to see you again!" He smiled.

She looked him over, "You've gotten taller. And you're clothes are different. I can't believe you look so much more mature than when you left."

"Ha ha. I suppose I _have_ gotten taller in the last two years. You haven't changed a bit Sakura!" He said.

Sakura gave him her demon eyes and clocked him one. Of course she had changed. She filled in and also got a bit taller. Her appearance was a lot more womanly. Her strength was a lot fiercer. Naruto had got clear through a fence from that punch. Shikamaru and Temari were a bit scared of her strength.

"Oh, Temari and I need to get going," Shikamaru said.

"Going? Going where?" Naruto asked standing up.

"I've been given the mission of being Temari's escort during her stay in the Village for the Chuunin Exams. It's such a drag but I have to do it," he answered uninterested.

"I see. Well, I'll just check in with Grandma Tsunade. I was supposed to do that once I got back but I got sidetracked," Naruto said parting ways with the two.

He started in the direction of the Hokage building. Kiba crossed his path with Akamaru. They changed a lot in the last two years as well. Akamaru for one was enormous. He wasn't the tiny little pup he once was. He was so big that Kiba was able to ride him instead of Akamaru riding in Kiba's jacket or on his head.

"Well look what we have here Akamaru! It's the kid!" Kiba gave a big smile.

"What the- Kiba? No way! Is that really _you_? Whoa, what happened to Akamaru?" Naruto was surprised to see them.

Kiba looked confused, "What do you mean what happened to Akamaru? He's the same as always."

Naruto stared at the huge dog, "Are you kidding me? He's _huge_! Last time _I_ saw, he was always in your jacket or on your head."

"Oh!" Kiba laughed, "I guess I've spent so much time with him that I never realized how much he had grown."

Naruto and Kiba caught up with each other for a few minutes before Shino showed up. Hinata was on her way to meet the both of them until she saw Naruto and decided to shyly hide.

"Long time no see... Naruto," Shino said in his usual creepy way.

"Mm... _who_ are you?" Naruto asked staring closely at him.

Shino said, "Surely you of all people wouldn't forget about your _friend_."

Naruto looked closer at Shino, "Um- nope. Not ringing a bell."

He grew frustrated, "Come on, there's no way you could ever forget _me._"

Naruto shrugged. Shino wore a different jacket. This one had a hood and his sunglasses were more like sun goggles. Of course Naruto wouldn't recognize him and he told him that.

"Naruto is back. I didn't even know. What do I do?" Hinata asked herself.

Naruto had a feeling she was around, "Hinata? Is that you?"

He walked over to where she was trying to hide. Hinata started blushing a bit as he waved and smiled at her. What was she going to do? He was coming over to her.

"Are you okay? You're looking a little red in the face," he said placing a hand on her forehead gently.

She of course fainted. After keeping an eye on her until she woke up again, Kiba explained his team was given a mission and they were just waiting for Kurenai to meet up with them before they were to leave. Shino was super bummed out that Naruto didn't know who he was. He was also still upset over being the _only_ one not on the Sasuke retrieval team.

Kurenai eventually came along and they too parted ways. Sakura during this had went on her way to find Tsunade to hand in the reports. Naruto kept making _his_ way to Tsunade also. As he was casually on his way, Zemaria ran into him quite literally. She seemed to be in a huge hurry.

"Hey what's the big idea?" Naruto asked, "Zemaria? I didn't know it was you that ran into me."

"I'm so sorry Naruto. I'm in a hurry. I just found something out and I have to tell mother right away," she said, her voice was a bit shaky.

"She looks like she was crying," Naruto thought.

Zemaria asked him, "Something wrong?"

"It's nothing. I'm on my way to the same place. Grandma Tsunade wanted me to check in with her once I got back to the Village," he said.

"Mind if I walk with you then?" She asked.

He shook his head, "No not at all. I don't mind."

They walked to the Hokage building together. She brought him up to speed about what had been going on in the Village. He told her how he saw Shikamaru and he told him the details of the wedding, everyone's ranks, and how he and Zemaria found their own place. They laughed as they reminisced about past missions and missions Zemaria had been on while he was off training.

Finally, they reached the building. Together they entered the room. Sakura was still there along with Jiraiya. Tsunade smiled seeing Naruto back in the Village. It had been quieter without him. The Village wasn't all quiet though as Zemaria kept things lively and kept everyone on their toes. She had about as much energy and spirit as Naruto.

"It's good to have you back in the Village Naruto," Tsunade said.

He laughed, "I'm glad to be back. Man, looking around at the place it feels so nostalgic."

"Mother, I have something I need to tell you," Zemaria interrupted their reunion.

"Hm, what is it?" She asked.

"Well- I- uh..." Zemaria started unsure of how to tell her.

"Just say what you need to say," she told her.

"Mother, I'm pregnant," she blurted out.

Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, and Jiraiya all said in shocked unison, "What!?"

Tsunade nearly fell out of her seat, "Pregnant? Did you say you're _pregnant_!?"

She nodded, "Yeah, that's right."

"Shikamaru..." Tsunade cracked her knuckles.

"I know that look! Don't you dare even _think_ about killing my Shikkie-Chan!" Zemaria yelled at her.

There was a sudden thud from outside the window. They all walked over and there on the ground twitching from shock was... Kakashi. He had been outside the window on the roof waiting for Tsunade to announce his presence. Jiraiya was so happy he was crying and going on about being a great grand god father. Or he could be considered a Great Uncle.

Sakura gasped, "Kakashi-Sensei?"

Zemaria blinked confused, "Where'd _he_ come from?"

"Pregnant... so grown now," Kakashi said still twitching.

"Well this changes everything. I was going to have you, Naruto, and Sakura go up against Kakashi to see just how much you've all grown since squad seven was put together. I suppose I can still have Naruto and Sakura go up against him," Tsunade decided.

"Hey, does Shikamaru know this?" Asked Naruto.

"Do I know _what_?" Shikamaru asked entering the room.

"Shikkie-Chan!" Zemaria greeted him with a tackle.

Tsunade glared at him with evil eyes. Sakura told him the good news before Zemaria could get it out. The once confused look on his face turned to fear as he noticed Tsunade's expression. She looked like she wanted to kill him right then and there. It sent an eerie cold chill straight down his spine.

"Whoa! Hold on now! Don't look at me like that!" Shikamaru waved his hands in front of him.

"Relax, I'm not going to kill you. Zemaria would put me through a wall if I did that," she told him.

"Zemaria? Putting _Tsunade_ through a wall?" Jiraiya thought doubting Zemaria could do that.

Shikamaru was paying a visit to Tsunade to give her progress information about the Chuunin exams. Kakashi got himself together and was back on the roof outside the window. He was holding his usual Make Out Paradise in his hand. Even now he couldn't put that raunchy book down. Naruto handed him Jiraiya's newest installment called Make Out Tactics.

Naruto and Sakura were curious to know how far along Zemaria was in her pregnancy. She told them only a couple of weeks but she had found out that morning. They didn't know what to say. The only one with the most reaction was Jiraiya. He was still bawling with happiness.

"I'm going to be a father," Shikamaru finally said as he placed an arm around her waist.

She looked at his expression, "Hm, interesting."

"What is?" He asked.

"Well I thought you were going to say "this is going to be such a drag" or something along those lines like you normally do."

"No, I'm very much happy about this," he placed his other hand on her stomach.

Zemaria suddenly looked terrified, "Oh god."

Shikamaru asked confused, "What? What's wrong?"

She face palmed herself, "I just thought about what your dad's reaction might be. You know how he kept interfering with us getting too close. If you think Mother is bad I can't imagine your father."

"You're right. He had tried to do everything possible to keep us from- well..." Shikamaru said trailing off at the end.

"Hold on," she said and paused, "this means that... I won't be able to go on missions for nine months!"

She started crying and dropped to her knees. This was a very big deal since it was pretty much her income as a Shinobi to go on mission. It was also an opportunity to get out of the Village and meet new people and see new places. Shikamaru knelt down beside Zemaria and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She added, "Now I have to wait to take the Jounin Exam too!"

"Hey, it's not _that_ bad," he told her.

"You just don't understand. You hate missions and anything that seems like too much work. Lazy," she said still pretty much crying.

"Oh man, if this is what pregnancy does then this is going to be a drag," he said.

She gave an evil eye and face palmed him across the room. Everyone were taken back by her reaction and had wide eyed expressions. Kakashi poofed away during all of this to go read his book.

"And I thought _Tsunade_ was bad," Jiraiya thought.

"Geez and I thought _Sakura_ was bad," Naruto thought.

After everyone got themselves together again, Shikamaru gave Tsunade his report. Sakura and Naruto left to get some last minute training in before they had to battle Kakashi. Zemaria and Shikamaru had been invited to his parents' house for dinner that night. They sat at the table. Shikamaru barely touched his food.

"You know, you've been fiddling around with your food since you got it. Is something wrong?" Shikaku asked him.

Shikamaru's hand was shaking. Zemaria placed her hand on his. His hand started to calm down. He was clearly nervous about telling them the news.

"Uh? I- well the thing is-," Shikamaru started.

"We're pregnant!" Zemaria blurted out... again.

Shikaku almost choked on his tea and dropped the cup, "You're _what_!?"

Yoshino smiled lightly, "Oh my goodness. Our little Shikamaru is going to be a father!"

Shikamaru placed a hand on Zemaria's over his other hand. Yoshino picked up the pieces of the cup that broke after Shikaku dropped it. After everything was cleaned up, they had a long conversation about why they were still too young to be having kids.

"Shikamaru, you're still a kid yourself. You're far too young to be reproducing at your age," he tried to tell him.

"Well it's too late to change things _now_. Man..." Shikamaru said.

"If you say 'what a drag' I'll smack you again," Zemaria cut him off.

They headed back home. It had grown pretty late. The two got ready for bed lying next to each other. It wasn't long before they fell fast asleep. As they slept, Orochimaru was already in the Village. He made his way inside their bedroom. The night progressed on and Orochimaru just crept about and lurked in the shadows of the room until daylight.

He watched as Zemaria rolled on to her back, stretched her arms, and began to open her eyes. He walked out of the shadows and over to her bed. Seeing him, she sat up.

"Father, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I'm here for the wedding remember?" He said.

"Yeah I know but that's not for another couple of weeks," she told him.

He smiled, "It's okay, I _actually_ have permission to be here this time." He held up a visitor's pass.

She stared at it, "Amazing. You're actually here _legitimately_ for once."

Shikamaru started to wake up. Orochimaru sat at the foot of their bed. Like a number of guys, Shikamaru slept without a shirt even without his fishnet shirt. For some reason Orochimaru thought it was normal to just stare at him.

Shikamaru gasped, "Orochimaru!? Why on Earth are you here!?"

"Relax Shikkie, he's here legitimately this time. He decided to show up a couple of weeks early for the wedding."

"My you're very fit aren't you? I can see why my daughter chose you to spend her life with. Although from experience you don't seem to be very motivated when it comes to a lot of work," he observed.

Shikamaru was going to say something until there was a knock at the bedroom door. Shikaku came over looking for Shikamaru. Everyone went silent.

"Shikamaru, the Hokage wants you in her office right away," he informed him.

"All right dad. I'll be out in a minute," he told him.

Zemaria cleared her throat, "Father, do you mind?"

Orochimaru stared at her, "Mind?"

Shikamaru said it for her, "I don't think I want to be changing with you staring at me the way you were."

"Oh, I see. No problem," he said and walked over to the window and stared out.

Shikamaru changed into his usual outfit, gave Zemaria a kiss, and walked over to the door. As he opened it, Shikaku was standing there. Zemaria got up from the bed. Shikamaru walked past his father to start on his way to the Hokage. Shikaku realized that Orochimaru was standing there in the room.

"Orochimaru, it's been a long time since you were in the Village," Shikaku said.

"If you're going to ask me why I'm here, the answer is simple; I'm here for Zemaria's up and coming wedding," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Shikaku looked at her, "I was going to invite you to breakfast but I see you're preoccupied with other things."

"Zemaria, why don't you and I go around the Village like we used to so many years ago? It will be nice to revisit old memories," Orochimaru offered.

Shikaku reluctantly left them be. Together Orochimaru and Zemaria went out around the Village. They went to all of the places they used to stop at. Along the way they stopped to get breakfast. They had ended up spending the entire day together.

"I act like I don't want to really be around you anymore because of all the pain you caused me, but to be honest... I've missed you so much and how much time we had spent together in the short while you were around," she told him giving him a hug.

"I've missed those times too," he hugged her back.

Tsunade got wind of Orochimaru's arrival, "You got here really early."

Orochimaru smiled, "Tsunade, I see my arrival wasn't all undetected. Look at us; the three of us together in one place. We're like one happy family again."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Orochimaru. You were only allowed in the Village for one reason: Our daughter's wedding. After the wedding is over with you _will_ leave without causing trouble," she told him.

They went on reminiscing about old times. Orochimaru told of stories from when he, Tsunade, and Jiraiya were all kids and Sarutobi was their Sensei. Jiraiya was a pervert even way back then. He would peep at the girls' bathing while they bathed in the hot spring. Tsunade admitted back then that she would have sooner dated Orochimaru before she'd date Jiraiya.

"So that's how it all started," Zemaria said slyly.


	2. Chapter 2: A Wedding and a Disaster

Chapter Two

A Wedding and a Disaster

The day was almost upon the Village; the wedding. It was the night before. Like promised all the Kunoichi of the Village had a party and all of the guys had a party. Shikamaru didn't seem very entertained. Orochimaru was present at Shikamaru's party as was Jiraiya. They ended up getting to be the most drunk next to Shikaku. They were like the three drunken musketeers.

"What a drag..." Shikamaru sat at a table.

"I hope by the time I leave here I can find some pretty ladies!" Jiraiya laughed.

"I think it's time I went looking for the ladies as well," Orochimaru randomly said.

Jiraiya laughed at him almost falling over, "_You_!? I don't think _any_ woman would fall for you!"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, "You know, I can do _great_ things just with my tongue. You can ask Tsunade about that!"

Shikaku, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya all ducked out of the party a bit early. Shikaku wasn't the type to go around picking up women being married so he simply went along to watch and flirt. As long as he didn't get physically involved with another woman there was nothing wrong with it. Besides, all three were beyond three sheets to the wind.

They ended up finding a group of women whom were not present at Zemaria's party. Orochimaru started throwing out puns and pickup lines involving the extensive uses of his tongue. A couple of the women were a little creeped out by it while others thought it was sexy. Jiraiya did his part to snag a few ladies.

Zemaria's party was going well. She and everyone else there were having a ball. Tsunade like her fellow Sannin was also drunk off of her ass. There was only _one_ person out of the guys though that was not allowed to be drinking and that was Lee. Of course Zemaria wasn't drinking either being pregnant. No one wanted to let him near any saké because of his loopy fist.

By morning, Shikamaru slept at his parents' while Zemaria somehow managed to make it home. Tsunade ironically ended up in the same bed as Orochimaru with Jiraiya and another woman in the same place. Tsunade and Orochimaru were on the bed and Jiraiya and the woman were on the floor. All four of them were naked.

Orochimaru woke up first followed by Tsunade. They realized they were naked lying in the same bed. Tsunade was confused and they stared at each other. Orochimaru grew scared by her expression of shear confused rage.

"OROCHIMARU! How in the _hell_ did I end up in bed with you!?" She yelled at him.

His eyes widened and he waved his hands in defense, "I swear I don't know what happened! We were all drunk! No- Don't-!"

Tsunade punched him full force. He flew from the bed out the window dragging along with him the blanket from the bed. She punched him so hard he flew straight across the Village and went crashing in to Zemaria's bedroom.

"What the hell!?" Zemaria jolted awake.

She looked at her window which was now shattered. Then she looked at the floor. There, lying face first on the floor was Orochimaru... butt naked with a blanket over top of him. He tried to move but it felt like he was paralyzed. Zemaria was confused and horrified that her father was _naked_ on her floor!

"Father!? What the- where in the _hell_ did you come from!?" She asked looking away.

He answered weakly, "Ask your mother..."

She blinked confused, "Mother? What did you do to piss her off _now_?"

He groaned still trying to stand, "Apparently in our drunken excursion we ended up in bed together. Then she punched me so hard I flew across the Village. Maybe it was luck I just happened to land in your room and not elsewhere."

"You had sex with Mother!? I oughta punch you all the _back_ to her!" She turned away from him.

He stood up and the blanket fell from his body, "We were drunk. Personally I'm not even sure if we actually _had_ sex."

She turned back to face him, "You aren't?" She realized the blanket wasn't around him anymore, "Ah! What the hell are you thinking standing there naked in front of me!?"

She immediately turned away again scarred for life. What a morning. She had just woken up and _that's_ the first thing she had to end up seeing? It never bothered her to see her father without a shirt on but naked? That's another story. This was something she could _never_ unsee again.

Orochimaru bent down and picked up the blanket. He wrapped it around him in a sort of Kimono style manner. His paper white face had actually turned red. If it weren't bad enough that he had stood there naked, apparently his hidden 'friend' was perky. Now _that_ was something to be grossed out about. A father naked standing in front of his daughter and being 'perky' down there!

"You are absolutely unbelievable! Are you _actually_ aroused standing in front of me without clothes?" She asked him.

"I can't help it. You look so much like myself. I guess I just love myself too much," he joked.

"Why you-!" She backhanded him straight _out_ of her bedroom.

"Ugh! She's- just like her mother!" He went flying through the Village... again.

While he went flying across the Village, Jiraiya was awake and was busy laughing his ass off at the whole situation. Tsunade kicked Jiraiya out of the room so she could find her clothes to get dressed. She was supposed to be at Zemaria's to help her get ready for her big day.

Shikamaru was unaware of all the chaos the 'Legendary Sannin' were causing just from getting drunk. He finally woke up. Shikaku was awake as well. He along with Chouji and Naruto helped him get ready. Tsunade got dressed and made it to Zemaria's house. Zemaria told her about her Father's dramatic entrance into her bedroom thanks to her.

"I'm so sorry you had to be scarred by him like that," she apologized.

"Um- _you're_ the one that punched him my way," Zemaria pointed out.

Tsunade asked, "Speaking of which, what happened after that?"

She cracked her knuckles, "I backhanded him _out_ of my room! The freaking perverted serpent was _AROUSED_ from standing naked in front of me!"

Tsunade widened her eyes to her, "He was what!? Why that dirty little-!"

"It's okay now. I'm sure he's someone else's problem now. In fact, I'm not even sure how far he flew out my window anyway," she told her.

Actually, Orochimaru ended up at the hot springs and landed head first into the women's bath. He was beaten by the women who were taking an early morning bath and kicked him out. He spent the time after that to find suitable clothes to wear for the wedding to walk Zemaria down the aisle with.

He ended up back at her house to help her get ready. Tsunade and Ino were fixing Zemaria's hair. The moment Orochimaru entered the bedroom all eyes glared at him. Luckily, Zemaria was already in her dress. He wasn't sure if he should enter the room further or back out.

"Nice of you to join us snake pervert!" Ino yelled.

"I'm not a snake pervert! It was Tsunade who punched me halfway across the Village!" He yelled back.

"Oh shut it! This is _my_ day and I'm not letting anything ruin it!" Zemaria sounded like a bridezilla.

They eventually stopped yelling and glaring at each other. Zemaria was almost ready. Her hair was set in two braids one on each side tied in the back. The rest of her hair had been curled. She looked absolutely beautiful. She started wavering.

"Zemaria? Are you okay?" Tsunade asked.

She dropped to her knees. Orochimaru caught her before her head hit the floor. Her eyes closed. She was out cold. Day of wedding jitters had snuck up on her. She was more nervous than a rat hiding from a predator.

"Zemaria? Hey, wake up," Orochimaru said trying to wake her up.

Ino asked, "What happened?"

Orochimaru reassured her, "She's fine. It's just a case of pre-wedding jitters. She's nervous."

Zemaria groggily opened her eyes. Ino went downstairs to the kitchen and asked Sakura who was finishing up preparing the food for the reception for a glass of water. She explained what happened. Sakura got her a glass with the water and handed it to her. She went back upstairs and told Zemaria to drink it to rehydrate herself.

The whole bridal party arrived at the battle arena. It was the one place where the whole Village those that weren't family could be in attendance for the wedding. Shikamaru was standing at his position. Jiraiya being sober, was to perform the ceremony. All of the main guests were setup on the battle field.

Everyone was present. The music started playing. First came Moegi the flower girl. Next, the bridal party; the bridesmaids with the groomsmen and then the maid of honor with the best man. Tsunade was next followed by Shikamaru's parents. Finally, it was Zemaria at the end with Orochimaru. She hesitated still nervous but he calmed her and they proceeded.

They all stood where they were supposed to. Everyone went quiet waiting for Jiraiya to begin speaking. There was also a moment of murmuring at sight of Orochimaru but it was short lived.

"Today everyone here has gathered to watch in awe as two lovebirds join together in harmony! I Jiraiya the master Toad Sage shall be the one who binds these two in love and happiness. If there is anyone who objects to this matrimony speak now or-," Jiraiya started.

"Oh don't speak at all because I'll be ripping out your throats!" Orochimaru butted in.

Zemaria threw a shuriken at him, "Pipe down! _MY_ day!"

Orochimaru ducked out of the way of the shuriken, "Where did you get a shuriken from!?"

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" She snickered.

"As I was _saying_! If there is anyone who does not approve of this matrimony speak now or hold your tongue," Jiraiya finished knocking Zemaria upside her head.

"Ow! Meanie," she pouted.

No one objected, "Love is a beautiful thing like a woman's body naked in a hot bath; her-."

Asuma clocked him, "None of that. I'm sure there are kids present here. Keep it PG."

Jiraiya cleared his throat and continued, "Love is a beautiful thing. It's something that can be found any_where_ with any_one_. These two young lovers found each other and fate decided they should be together for eternity. Let us begin. Shikamaru Nara, do you promise to love and honor Zemaria for the rest of your life? To take care of her in her times of need whether she is in sickness or in health?"

"I absolutely do," Shikamaru said staring into Zemaria's eyes.

"And you Zemaria, do you feel the same?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes, of course I do," she smiled.

"The amount of love and compassion these two have for one another is great. The power of it is unreal. Together they have overcome life threatening missions, an abduction, and many other events that had separated them for periods of time. Today they will be joined as one!" Jiraiya said dramatically.

Konohamaru handed them each a wedding ring. Shikamaru held it right to her finger.

"I understand you both have your own vowels to say. Shikamaru, you can start things off," Jiraiya said.

He nodded, "Zemaria, the first time I saw you it was like nothing else. I'm not usually the super romantic type. If I had to choose how to give you the most romantic date it would be elaborately planned all the way down to the moment we ended up in bed together. The whole time in the Academy you always caught my eye. I never thought you felt the way I did. I promise that no matter what comes our way I'll be by your side. I will protect you with my life. With or without this ring that I hold, we will always be together."

"You can place the ring on her finger," Jiraiya told him.

He did and Zemaria spoke next, "By the light of the moon each night passes. No matter the danger, no matter the amount of infliction we shall be bound forever. I saw you once and couldn't stop thinking about you. My shyness kept me from saying how I felt. From the moment you boldly kissed me and eloquently took my virginity that fateful day in the interrogation building I knew. I knew you felt as I did and that we'd be together forever. I love you so much."

She placed the ring on his finger. Jiraiya announced them as man and wife and told them to kiss. Everyone either started to cry or cheer. Orochimaru was even crying tears of joy. His little girl was all grown up and married now. How time had flown. It was like just yesterday he was walking her to and from the Academy before he left the Village.

The bridal party walked off, Shikamaru and Zemaria at the lead this time. Soon the battle field and the bleachers were cleared. A small group of Chuunin stayed behind to clean up and put the chairs and things away. The bridal party all went to change for the reception. Only close friends and family were allowed at the reception otherwise there wouldn't have been enough room for everyone.

The reception was starting. All of the guests were in attendance. The bridal party made one more entrance as a whole. At the end were of course Zemaria and Shikamaru. Music started playing. It was perfect. The happy couple brought everyone to attention.

"Everybody! Can we have everybody's attention please?" Shikamaru said.

"We'd like to announce that we are expecting our first child!" Zemaria announced.

At first everyone that didn't know already started murmuring. It was closely followed by applause and cheering. The only one not cheering was Orochimaru. He was taken aback by the news. He grew angry and immediately slammed Shikamaru against the nearest wall by his throat.

"You got my daughter _pregnant_!? You're both still just kids!" He held him against the wall.

"Father!" Zemaria yelled.

Shikamaru tried to speak, "We... we didn't plan this. It was... unexpected!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya quickly remedied the situation. Tsunade had warned him not to cause trouble. Orochimaru also started on Zemaria asking her why she hadn't told him. She said they were going to make the announcement at the reception and she didn't want to tell him until then. Reluctantly he calmed down.

He wasn't fond of the idea of her being pregnant at only fifteen. The rest of the reception went smoothly. Zemaria had her first dance with Shikamaru and then with Orochimaru. Could you ever imagine either of those two dancing? The cake was cut and Shikaku pulled a prank on them by using shadow possession on them and smooshing the cake in either of their faces. Shikamaru got him back by doing the same later on.

In no time the reception came to an end. Everyone casually went home. Those who were too drunk were brought home by a medical ninja. Orochimaru was able to get an extension to his stay to leave the next morning. As Shikamaru and Zemaria were leaving the reception, an Akatsuki member knocked Shikamaru out and then Zemaria and took her.


	3. Chapter 3: Zemaria's Abduction

Chapter Three

Zemaria's abduction

Fortunately, Orochimaru saw the whole thing. He oddly informed Tsunade who also informed Jiraiya. Orochimaru took Shikamaru to the hospital in case he was hurt worse than what appeared. The members that took Zemaria were Hidan and his partner Kakazu. No one even knew they had infiltrated the Village.

"I'm going after them!" Orochimaru said angered.

"I can't allow you to do that," Tsunade said.

"I'm not a Shinobi of this Village anymore Tsunade! You can't stop me from going after them!" He yelled.

She tried to stop him, "Wait! You know she's _my_ daughter too! And if they kill her or even just rough her up there's a chance she'll lose that baby she's carrying! We can't just go rushing into things!"

Naruto got wind of what was going on, "Grandma Tsunade!" He charged into the room, "Grandma Tsunade! Is it true!? Did someone from the Akatsuki abduct Zemaria!?"

Tsunade sighed, "Well there's no keeping things from _you_ now is there Naruto?"

Jiraiya nodded, "It's true. They knocked out Shikamaru before knocking out Zemaria and taking her. The best thing to do is to send a team after them and safely bring her back before something happens to her or her baby."

"I'll kill them!" Naruto fired off his mouth as usual.

"Naruto! This is a very delicate situation! I _just_ got through yelling at Orochimaru because he wanted to go charging in same as you! If they feel threatened by us closing in on them they might hurt her. If that happens then she could be at risk for having a miscarriage. We can't allow that to happen," Tsunade yelled at him.

The four of them tried to come up with the best plan of action in order to save Zemaria and her unborn. While they were doing that, Shikamaru for the first time defied the rules of leaving the Village without being on an official mission by leaving the Village. As the most tactical one of his generation, he planned as we went along and already had one hundred different strategies all in his head.

"Zemaria, I'll get you back I swear," he thought.

Hidan was one of the hot heads in the Organization. He was also the one that cursed the most. Ever hear the expression "cursing like a sailor"? Well he was far worse than that. Kakazu, his partner was mostly concerned about money. Not only was Zemaria a host for a bijuu, but she was also a target to be used as bait to get Orochimaru who was on the Akatsuki's hit list if you would.

Kakazu had Zemaria bound at the wrists and slung over his shoulder. Two days passed before they arrived at the hideout. They entered and Kakazu set Zemaria down on the ground. She slowly started to wake up. The members of the Organization that were present were: Itachi Uchiha, Pein, Hidan, Kakazu, and Kisame Hoshigake.

Zemaria looked around and recognized Itachi, "Itachi?"

"Well if it isn't Lady Zemaria. Orochimaru's daughter," he said.

Hidan laughs, "Shit. Orochimaru had a daughter?"

"Indeed he did," Itachi said.

"You assholes took me away on my damn wedding night!" Zemaria yelled.

Pein made an offer, "I'll make you an offer."

"And what would _that_ be?" She asked

"I'll allow you to live for a while and in exchange, you join us," he said.

"I don't think so. I'd rather live my full life than live for x amount of time before you decide to kill me," she harshly declined.

Zemaria had her vines wrap around all of them. The vines went straight through Hidan and Kakazu making them both look like swiss cheese. She used one to cut her ties. Using hand signs, she disappeared and appeared outside of the hideout. She summoned a carrier snake. Most Shinobi used carrier birds, Zemaria used carrier snakes. She attached a message to its neck, used a cloaking barrier, and instructed it to find any Leaf Shinobi out looking for her.

She started to run away from the hideout when Pein appeared right in front of her. He punched her in the stomach knocking her out. Hidan wasn't too happy being impaled by Zemaria's vines. He wanted to get back at her.

"I'll get this bitch back for impaling me with vines," he said angered.

He walked over to her unconscious body and repositioned it before kneeling down. He lifted her dress she wore to her reception and removed her underwear. He planned on raping her.

He looked to everyone, "I'd like to ask all of you except for Kakazu to leave while I do this."

They all left the hideout except Kakazu. Zemaria again started to wake up as Hidan repositioned her legs. He inserted himself inside of her and held her hands down. She started to struggle as he began to rape her. She pulled out her claws and dug them into his hands.

"Ah! You little cock sucker! Kakazu! Sew her hands and fingers down!" He yelled.

Kakazu had a special ability to be able to sew thread from any part of his body. He sewed her hands down and then her fingers. Hidan continued sliding his hand under her lower back. Zemaria tried so hard not to moan. She decided to use her Sonic Pulse Jutsu and yelled in a super high pitch.

Pissed, Hidan told Kakazu to sew her mouth shut. He did. Hidan took a kunai and made a long cut from her left cheek bone diagonal up her eye. He sat up and made another long cut from the upper left side of her left breast down diagonally down to her right hip bone. She couldn't take anymore of his violation of her.

Her vines wrapped around him and his private and threw him off. She laid on the floor, her legs now closed. Hidan put his private away after getting up and untangled. Kakazu told everyone they could come back inside.

"This bitch just got what she deserved for putting holes in me," Hidan cracked a smile.

Pein informed them, "Apparently the one-tail was in attendance with his brother and sister during the three-tail's wedding. They're on their way back to the Sand Village. Deidara and Sasori are on their way there."

"While she's here and still alive, I can get my revenge on Orochimaru," Itachi said.

Itachi walked over to her. He straddled her around the hip area. Glaring, he grabbed her throat. His grip tightened snuffing out her oxygen until she finally passed out. If one rape wasn't enough, Itachi was going to add to it. He slid back and mounted her.

His movements were slow and rough filled with rage. Orochimaru was oddly the first person to arrive at the hideout. He saw Zemaria unconscious and Itachi raping her. Orochimaru was infuriated. Kisame, Hidan, Kakazu, and Pein all stepped in to keep him from interrupting Itachi. The more Itachi raped Zemaria, the more infuriated Orochimaru got. After several minutes, Itachi's movements became faster. He was almost finished.

"Oh, ah... mm," Itachi finished.

Orochimaru had an evil in his eyes more than usual, "Itachi! You bastard! Stay the _hell_ away from my daughter!"

"That was payback for those years ago," Itachi told him.

Shikamaru finally had made it to the hideout and used Shadow Possession to immobilize the Akatsuki members. Orochimaru hurried over to Zemaria. He took out a kunai and cut the threads holding her hands and fingers down. Picking her up, he left with her and brought her far enough away that she'd be safer. Shikamaru followed.

Orochimaru cut the threads keeping her mouth shut. She opened her eyes and saw him and Shikamaru. She tried to sit up. She felt so weak it was unbelievable. It had to be from Pein punching her in the stomach. What if that made her have a miss carriage?

In the hideout, Itachi explained what his plan was after raping Zemaria. He wanted her to become impregnated with his child. If the child ended up possessing the Sharingan, Orochimaru would suffer because he wouldn't touch any child blood to him even if it was able to use Sharingan. It would be the most fitting type of revenge.

Kakashi and Jiraiya arrived with Medical Ninja. They healed her cuts as much as possible. Orochimaru informed her about what Itachi did to her while she was unconscious. The news of what happened pissed Shikamaru off. They rushed her back to the Leaf Village. Her eyeball was badly damaged. On the way back, she passed out.

The worst was over, Zemaria was back in the Village and getting her wounds treated and wrapped. She was unconscious for several hours. Orochimaru stayed in the room with her along with Shikamaru. Soon Orochimaru left so Shikamaru and Zemaria could be alone when she woke up. When she woke up, Shikamaru had fallen asleep.

She got up, got dressed, and high-tailed it out the window. She started to walk off when Orochimaru was walking in the direction of the hospital. He saw her and stopped her. She should have been resting. Instead she looked absolutely miserable. What was she thinking?

"You should be at the hospital resting. What are you doing walking around out here?" He asked her.

"I- just need somewhere to think," she lied.

He didn't believe her, "What are you really thinking?"

She sighed, "I know Itachi impregnated me. I can sense it. The moment their leader punched me in the stomach I knew I miscarried Shikamaru's baby."

"Don't do anything stupid. You have so much to live for," he told her.

Shikamaru caught part of the conversation, "What's going on?"

"Zemaria, tell me exactly where you were planning on going," he said.

She took a deep breath and sighed again, "The Hokage Mountain. I was going to stand at the top, let myself fall off, and decide while thinking whether to save myself or not."

Shikamaru gasped, "What? Why would you do that?"

She walked over to him and took his hands, "Shikamaru, I love you with all my heart. That will never change. After what happened, you don't deserve me. I just need to do this."

She walked off. Shikamaru was going to go after her until Orochimaru stopped him. He told him that she needed to do this on her own. She stood on the head of the First Hokage. Looking down, she stared at the long distance below. The wind blew through her hair. She closed her eyes and let herself fall forward off the mountain and straight down.

There were Shinobi further up where the buildings were. They saw her falling and tried to stop her. Her vines stopped them instead. Shikamaru and Orochimaru watched in horror. She spread her arms to her sides. As she finished thinking, she opened her eyes and did hand signs. Her vines wrapped around her and she came to a safe landing.

"Zem! Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked rushing over to her.

"I'm fine. I know what I have to do now. Please forgive me in advance Shikkie," she said and ran off to the Hokage Building.

She entered the building. Tsunade was pleased to see she was alright after her horrible experience. She had gone to see Tsunade to tell her about her request.

"Zemaria, you can't be serious. We just went through all of that to get you _away_ from the Akatsuki!" She told her.

"Mother, I'm carrying Itachi's baby. I sense it. You can consider it an S ranked mission if you have to. I'd be one of their members for around nine months. They can't kill me while I'm carrying his kid. Their leader made me an offer," Zemaria explained.

She asked concerned, "What was the offer?"

She said, "He told me if I joined them he'd let me live for a while and not kill me."

"How would you convince them you've left the Leaf behind?" She asked.

"We'd have to stage my betrayal of the Leaf. I can use paper bombs set in a way that will activate a Genjutsu making it look like major areas of the Village have been destroyed after I leave. If it's done right it'll be very believable," she said.

"Zemaria why would you go as far as this just to get information on the Akatsuki?" Jiraiya asked sitting outside the window.

"Jiraiya? How long have you been there?" She asked.

"Long enough," he answered.

She sighed, "Please Mother, this is something I need to do."

She thought a moment, "What about Shikamaru? You're just going to leave him for nine months?"

"As much as it will pain me, yes. Look, the only people I want to be aware of this are the Jounin and him. Don't tell _anyone_ else what the plan is that I'm up to especially Naruto. If he doesn't try to stop me, he'll end up telling the wrong person," she insisted.

After a very long discussion on the matter, Tsunade agreed to stage Zemaria's betrayal of the Leaf and assigned her the S ranked mission to gather Intel on the Akatsuki from the inside. She warned her to be careful and not let her guard down. In addition, she requested that she stay in touch regularly as much as possible. Zemaria promised to keep them up to date through carrier snakes and messages with cloaking barriers so no one will suspect it's carrying a message.

Tsunade had another request. It was really simple; Zemaria had to wait to leave until after the Medical Ninja could replace her damaged eye. Since Orochimaru hadn't left the Village yet, he obtained a snake's eye from one of his summons so that the eye would be the size of a human's eye. Zemaria agreed to the request. She was tired of having only one usable eye. After the operations, she gathered her things and left.

Zemaria put her betrayal plan into action. She immediately left the Village making it look like she wasn't given the permission to leave. As she made her way through the forest, the Jounin followed behind. Included in all of the Jounin were Neji, Lee, and Tenten. They were all fully aware that this was being staged and were to use little force but make it look convincing. Kakashi blocked her path first. She was surrounded.

"Come on, you of all people should know better than to betray the Leaf. You can stop this right now," he told her.

"It's too late for that! I guess I really am my father's daughter," she said.

"You've survived fifteen years of your life not becoming him. Don't start _now_!" Asuma chimed in.

"I'm not going back!" She yelled and attacked them.

The 'battle' began. Asuma tried close combat using his Chakra blades. She dodged each of the attacks. She countered Kakashi's attacks with Dragon Flame followed by Water Dragon Vortex. Neji came from her blind spot to use Gentle Fist. She dodged the attack. Zemaria was amazing at dodging if you haven't noticed already. Her downfall here though was Tenten.

After just barely dodging Lee's Leaf Hurricane, Tenten used her special weapon summoning scroll and threw a slew of weapons at her. She couldn't dodge fast enough but instead blocked them crossing her arms in front of her. Kunai and other weapons hit her arms. She forced them out using electric currents from her arms and flicked them to the sides of her body.

She stood, blood traveling down each arm. All of the Jounin closed in on her. She was running out of breath. In the midst of the battle Tenten managed to make a scratch on her headband also. Zemaria had instructed Tsunade to tell all of them at least one needed to make a scratch on her headband since all of the Akatsuki members' headbands were like that.

She needed it to look as real as humanly possible. It was time for part two of her plan. She activated the first set of paper bombs and disappeared. No one would really be seriously injured, just some scrapes and bruises. She appeared at the border and activated the second set of paper bombs. As each section went off, it gave the illusion that several major areas of the Village had been destroyed, including the Hokage building.


	4. Chapter 4: S Ranked Mission Begins

Chapter Four

S Ranked Mission Begins

She ran off to find the hideout she had been taken to. She kept going for two days only stopping to rest and eat to ensure the baby was still growing. When she reached the hideout, she stood at the entrance for a while. Two Akatsuki members appeared behind her. They stood there silently. They were Pein and Itachi.

"You've come back of your own free will?" Itachi asked surprised.

She turned to face them, "Itachi, I'm pregnant with your child." She looked at Pein, "I've decided to accept your offer. I decided to betray the Leaf."

"Very well then. Come inside and I'll get you fixed up," Pein said.

Itachi stopped her a moment, "Hold on. I need reassurance that you aren't really here to spy and send information back to the Village."

He walked over to her really close. Taking his hand, he gently lifted her chin up and kissed her. Thinking quickly she turned off her natural reaction to pull away and smack him. Instead she placed a hand at the side of his neck, closed her eyes, and kissed him back. They stood there a minute just kissing. It was the most painful thing she'd felt in her heart.

Itachi pulled away, "You belong to me now. Don't forget that."

She nodded, "I won't."

They entered the hideout and Pein introduced her to Konan, Hidan, Kakazu, and Kisame. He told her that Zetsu, Sasori, and Deidara were out on their missions. She'd be partnered with Zetsu who was the only one without one. After a few hours of getting to know her new comrades, Sasori and Deidara returned. Deidara specialized in making animals and other things out of clay. They were able to be set off as explosives.

As the two entered, they were followed by a giant clay bird carrying an unconscious close to death Gaara wrapped up in its tail. The bird set him down on the ground and Zemaria stared. She wanted to cry but knew she'd give herself away if she did.

"If it isn't Orochimaru's daughter back here, hm," Deidara said.

Pein informed, "She's joined us willingly. Also, Itachi is going to be a father."

Hidan said, "Man how come your plan worked when mine couldn't? Not that I'd be the fatherly type or anything but you _did_ finish with her."

"Maybe you should have knocked her out first before deciding to rape her," Itachi pointed out.

Zemaria's eye twitched. Her vines quickly wrapped around Hidan and this time they also wrapped around his throat. She wasn't going to let his actions go so lightly. Pein stepped in and stopped her.

"You aren't here to try and kill Hidan. Let his actions go," Pein insisted.

"Fine," her vines let go of him.

"Damn this bitch is vicious!" He placed a hand to his throat to soothe the pain.

Itachi glared at him, "Watch it! She belongs to _me_ now!"

Hidan backed off immediately. Itachi could get really scary at times and no one liked to mess with him. While they were talking, Kakashi and his team of Naruto and Sakura were already in the Sand Village to assist with Kankuro's life or death situation after getting injected with Sasori's poison from his puppet.

Sasori like Kankuro was a puppet master. Only his puppets had a poison that had no antidote much like Zemaria's poison in her body. The only difference was that Sasori's poison could have an antidote developed. Kankuro had blindly gone after Sasori and Deidara after they took Gaara.

Deidara went on ahead and left the rest to Sasori who was able to defeat Kankuro. Kakashi and his team were there to help his situation and get information on Gaara and the ones that took him. After obtaining enough information they could move forward to find him. Lady Chiyo one of the head elders was present to help out as well.

During the time in which the Leaf Shinobi were gathering information and saving Kankuro, the Akatsuki was in the process of extracting the Shukaku from Gaara. Zemaria was a part of the extraction process. Pein had shown her the hand signs and she stood on the enormous summoning that resembled some type of statue where Orochimaru would have stood. During the extraction however, because Zemaria too was a Jinchuuriki her Chakra levels were much higher than most of the others.

She had trouble controlling a steady amount and collapsed a moment. Shaking, she stood up again and immediately did the hand signs again.

"Are you alright Zemaria?" Itachi asked surprisingly concerned.

"It okay, I'm fine. I just need to control the Chakra of the three-tails better," she answered.

Back in the Sand Village, they discovered the poison was special to Sasori who was her son. It wasn't long before Sakura was able to concoct an antidote and give it to Kankuro. Pakkun and the rest of Kakashi's pack were in charge of finding Gaara and the Akatsuki hideout. Eventually Pakkun found it, returned to the Sand, and reported his findings.

They along with Lady Chiyo left and followed Pakkun. Gai was also sent out with his squad. They were the backup squad. As promised however, none of the Jounin told anyone under them; Chuunin and Gennin about Zemaria's S ranked mission. The only Chuunin that knew was Shikamaru. The two squads neared the hideout.

"We have company," Zemaria said.

"So it would seem," Pein agreed.

"Let's see, there's one, two, three... four, five, six, seven. No eight. There are two squads outside," she informed.

Pein added for her, "I suppose they're all Leaf Shinobi or all Sand Shinobi."

Zemaria shook her head, "Seven of them are Leaf. One being the nine-tails. The other is a Sand Shinobi."

Deidara sat on Gaara's chest as if he were an ass rest. Zemaria felt like punching him but refrained. Before anymore conversation could take place, the whole boulder sealing the entrance was smashed to bits. Sakura used her monster strength to destroy it. She, Kakashi, Naruto, and Chiyo stood at the entrance. Naruto saw Gaara and Deidara sitting on him and grew angry. Then he noticed Zemaria and that she was wearing the Akatsuki cloak.

"Z- Zemaria?" He asked in shock.

"Naruto, Sakura," she said.

The only one that wasn't surprised was Kakashi. He wasn't letting on that he was well aware of her being part of the Organization though. That would have blown her whole mission.

"What are you doing with these monsters!?" He asked growing angrier.

She answered in a cold tone, "I grew tired of the ways of the Leaf. Everything was too restricting for me so I left. Not even all of the Jounin of the Village could stop me. Isn't that right, Kakashi?"

"Apparently we didn't try hard enough," he said playing along.

Naruto clenched his fists and tried not to cry, "There's... there's no way you'd betray the Village! It's not possible! You have Shikamaru and were going to have a baby together! What happened to _that_ huh? You're just going to leave all of that behind to join in with these heartless criminals!?"

"Naruto..." Kakashi tried to stop his ranting.

"Look, when they abducted me I ended up with a miscarriage. Their leader punched me in the stomach which caused it. Two of the members raped me, one finished and impregnated me. I no longer carry Shikamaru's child. Things are different now," she insisted.

Naruto's rage was getting worse. To continue with that pattern, Deidara was toying with him about Gaara. He stood up and put a foot on his motionless chest. The only Akatsuki members that were physically present and not hologram looking shadows were Zemaria, Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi. Kakashi had to hold Naruto back so he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"You lousy son of a bitch! How dare you!? How dare you step all over my friend!?" He yelled at him.

Itachi walked over to Zemaria and whispered to her, "We should be leaving. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you or the baby."

She nodded. He placed an arm around her waist and she a hand on his shoulder. Together they disappeared. Once they were a safe distance away, he told her she should stay with him and Kisame until Zetsu was finished his mission. They watched the hideout and the battle unfold.

"Zemaria," he said.

She looked at him and he placed a hand under her chin, lifted it up, and kissed her. She kissed him back in the same painfully passionate way as two days earlier upon her arrival. When they were finished, they focused on the battle inside of the hideout again. Deidara flew out on his clay bird. Gaara was in its mouth this time. Naruto being as hot headed as he was couldn't accept that Gaara was no longer alive.

He went chasing after him. Kakashi followed behind to make sure again Naruto didn't do anything rash and stupid. Zemaria followed them with her eyes until they were out of sight. She put her focus back on the hideout. It was just Sasori against Sakura and Lady Chiyo. Sakura hadn't said anything about Zemaria joining the Akatsuki because she knew better than to fire off her mouth unlike Naruto

She was highly disappointed and very upset at Zemaria's choice. The battle seemed like it would go on forever. Soon the whole land above it came crashing down. Itachi and Zemaria watched to see if anyone would exit.

"Is it over?" He asked.

She nodded, "The only heart beats I hear now are Sakura's and the old lady. Kakashi, Naruto, and Deidara are all too far away. I can't tell if their battle is over yet or not."

In fact, Gai's team encountered a trap after removing the sealing tags in order to get into the hideout. They had been battling clones of themselves that were equally matched in strength to their own. Ultimately, they figured out how to defeat them and met up with the others. Kakashi had ripped of Deidara's arm that he had left. Gaara's sand took of the other one during his battle with him.

The arm Kakashi took off was sent elsewhere as he used his Sharingan to do it. Having no arms left, Deidara staged his suicide. He wasn't really dead though. Itachi told me since Sasori was no longer alive that she would become his new partner. She disappeared and went in search of him. He was in search of his arm.

After a while, he found his arm and Zemaria found _him_. She told him Sasori was dead and she had been appointed his new partner. They went in search of Kakazu to have him reattach his arm. Along the way he managed to find the one Gaara ripped off. They returned to the hideout as a side stop. Deidara wanted to see for himself that Sasori was really dead.

Zemaria took his ring and placed it on her own finger. They went on their way. Soon they found Hidan and Kakazu. Zemaria who had been carrying Deidara's arms handed them over to the five hearted creep. He reattached the arms for him.

"Hey Deidara, are you going to bang this chick too since you have both of your arms back?" Hidan asked being a wise ass.

This guy was just _asking_ to be killed. Zemaria's eye twitched and her vines impaled him with major force filled with rage. Deidara ordered her to stop even though most of the Organization didn't like Hidan. He was just like he and Kakazu were immortals. If they weren't, they'd have been dead the first time she impaled both of them.

She scoffed, "Let's go."

She walked off. They started on a trail and he explained which Jinchuuriki they were going in search of. Along the way, he decided to try and act on Hidan's earlier question. He stood extremely close to her and slid his hand down her skirt. His hands by the way had usable mouths on the palms of them. The mouth on his hand tried pleasing her.

She gasped lightly and couldn't help but moan a little. He kissed her and backed her into a tree. They switched places and he was now against the tree. She dug her claws into the trunk and lifted a leg up a bit. Kissing him and dragging her claws down she suddenly felt as though Itachi would kill her if he knew what he was doing. She pulled away and removed his hand from inside her skirt.

"I can't. Itachi would kill me. Baby or no baby," she said and walked away.

They continued on. They're target was the four-tails. So far, the Akatsuki already had the one-tail and the two-tails. Zemaria of course had the three-tails in her. They arrived at the Village said to have the four-tail Jinchuuriki. The Jinchuuriki wasn't an easy battle. Zemaria had to hang back so as not to risk having a miscarriage.

Four months of going in search of Jinchuuriki had passed. Soon Zemaria was really showing her pregnancy. It was growing increasingly more dangerous for her to be fighting Jinchuuriki or anyone else for that matter. Pein had an idea. He sent for her to stay in the Rain Village where he was leader until she was to give birth. She could still spend time with Itachi even though she really didn't want to but had no choice to keep her true purpose there secret.

"You can go anywhere you please as long as you stay within the Village. I can see everything through the rain. I'd like to make sure you're safe as well as the baby," he explained.

"Of course," she said.

"You're dismissed," he said.

She turned and left the room. Zemaria never liked the rain. The other thing she didn't like was the cold. She had to stay in the Rain Village for five months. To her that seemed like forever. Wandering around, she found a local pub type of place and entered it. It doubled as a restaurant so she ordered something to eat.


	5. Chapter 5: Baby and a Blown Cover

Chapter Five

Baby and a Blown Cover

Finally the five months were over. Zemaria secretly left the Village. She summoned a carrier snake and attached a message with info on the Akatsuki's current plans and movements and forewarned that she was now nine months and almost ready to have the baby. Pein had increasingly grown suspicious of her and her motives for being in the Organization.

Upon her return, he appeared out of the shadows. Konan was with him. Zemaria tried not to appear nervous. What was she going to do? Had they figured out she had been spying on them for the Leaf?

"I detected that you had left the Village. Is there a reason for that?" Pein asked suspiciously.

"I needed a few minutes away from all of the rain. Five months of it and sometimes I just need a breather from it," she lied.

She had a sudden contraction. The baby was on its way. Pein asked Konan to escort her to the Hospital while he got contact to Itachi to arrive at the Village. The Medical Ninja got her prepared for labor. It didn't take long before Itachi arrived and was in the room with her holding her hand. She didn't have the strength to think about all the things she could do to him because of this pregnancy.

Her labor lasted almost ten hours. After so much pain and agony, the baby came out. It was a boy. The nurses cleaned him and wrapped him up in a blanket before handing him to Itachi first. He held him for a few minutes and then handed him to Zemaria. She didn't know whether to smile or to be pissed.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" The nurse asked.

"He'll be called Karasu," Zemaria said.

Zemaria stayed in the hospital for a couple of days before returning to her living quarters in the Village. After a couple of weeks, Pein summoned her to his office. He wanted to confront her about his suspicions. He also summoned Itachi to his office as well. Tobi who was Zetsu's partner ever since Sasori's death and Zemaria switched to Deidara was present. He was holding Karasu.

"The reason why I have summoned you here Zemaria is that I have suspicions that you've been feeding information about the Organization to the Leaf Village. I have reasons to believe that you never actually cut ties with the Leaf but instead it was all setup to appear that way. You aren't really a rouge Ninja, are you?" He interrogated her.

She saw Tobi had her son, "Before I answer, tell me what Tobi is doing with Karasu."

"He's holding onto him for a bit of leverage and confirmation. You see, if you express that you don't care about the baby it will prove to me that you really are here to spy. If you _do_ express that you care about the baby then it either proves you aren't here to spy or you're refusing to let it be known that you are spying. Either way it'll prove something," he answered.

"That didn't seem to make much sense..." she said.

He went close to her and held a kunai to her throat, "Okay then. Give me _one_ good reason why I should trust you."

"Give me any mission you choose. _Any_ and I'll carry out the mission and complete it. That can be my way of proving my loyalty to you and the Organization," she suggested.

"Alright, fine. I want you to return to the Leaf and retrieve the nine-tails. Itachi will go with you," he ordered.

Before he dismissed them he warned that if they failed or if she betrayed them, their son would die. For a good while as they walked, Zemaria was absolutely silent. She hadn't said a word since Pein dismissed them. This was going to be a disaster.

"You haven't said a word since we left the Village," he noticed.

She stopped walking, "I wonder why. Itachi, you _raped_ me. I had a child I _don't_ want. Pein _killed_ the child I _did_ want; Shikamaru's child. My life was fine until nine months ago!"

"You really hadn't betrayed the Leaf had you?" He questioned.

She was silent and glared at him. She then used Genjutsu on him and he activated his Sharingan. They engaged in a battle. Using her vines she got the better of him until he caught on to her attacks. He took it up a notch in his own Genjutsu. The battle raged on for some time until Zemaria deactivated the Genjutsu and his too.

Itachi outsmarted her using a clone as she wrapped him in her vines. He snuck up behind her and knocked her out. While she was unconscious he bound her hands and set her against a tree. About ten minutes past before she came to.

"If you're going to fight me, make sure you can actually win. Now you have two choices; the first choice is you can pretend our fight never happened and we can complete the mission or the second choice is that you can continue trying to fight me and I can kill you," Itachi told her.

"Fine, we'll continue with the mission and complete it," she sighed.

Itachi told her to stand up. He wasn't ready to cut her restraints right away. They continued walking until they were in sight of the Leaf Village. He decided to cut the restraints. She activated Sanbi's fog.

Itachi took a kunai and held it to her throat, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Relax. This fog isn't for you. It's for the Village. I can use certain Jutsu the three-tails uses. This one happens to be an illusion fog. It brings on confusion and finds your inner fears and regrets. You and I are safe. It doesn't affect me of course but you I'm sure can easily overcome Genjutsu," Zemaria explained.

He put the kunai away and they approached a side entrance. Zemaria stared into the two guard Ninja on duty and they passed out from shear fear. She and Itachi entered the Village. Unfortunately Shikamaru and Ino were walking down one of the paths and Itachi noticed. Shikamaru was unsure if he was seeing things right or not.

"Zemaria? Is that _you_?" He asked.

"Huh? Zemaria? Where?" Ino asked.

Itachi quickly removed his Akatsuki hat and kissed Zemaria pulling her so close to his body, she was pressed against him. She was very much unprepared for his action. She couldn't pull away. Instead she closed her eyes and cried lightly. Itachi did it on purpose and she didn't like that.

Shikamaru looked absolutely heartbroken. He knew she was on a top secret S ranked mission but he had no idea she had to get _that_ close to Itachi. He felt searing pain through his heart watching them kiss. After Itachi pulled away Zemaria with great speed disappeared and reappeared in front of Shikamaru. She grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall behind him.

"Where's Naruto?" She asked fiercely.

"I don't know!" He answered.

She stared him straight in the eyes, "I don't believe you. Where is Naruto!?"

Shikamaru didn't know how to react, "You know very well we Leaf Shinobi _never_ sell out our comrades!"

She took a deep breath and created one clone to restrain Ino, "Is Naruto in the Village still?"

"I'd never tell you even if I _did_ know," Shikamaru refused to say anything more.

The clone pressed a kunai to Ino's throat. Chouji came around the corner. Itachi stood by watching her every move. He wanted to see how far she'd go to get information from them. She turned her head to see Chouji standing there not sure of what was going on.

"Shikamaru? Ino? What's going on!?" He asked.

"Stay out of this Chouji!" Shikamaru insisted.

Zemaria let Shikamaru go and let out her claws. She went to Ino and lightly wrapped her hand around her throat. Her claws were dripping poison. She created a protective barrier around them. The clone has disappeared.

"Tell me where Naruto is or Ino gets a taste of my poison. You know it'll kill her in ten minutes if not sooner," she demanded an answer.

Shikamaru was still refusing to give her any information about Naruto. She realized that if he was still in the Village there was only one place he'd be at. She disappeared and reappeared outside of Ichiraku Ramen. Sitting inside was Naruto. She transformed herself to look like she was wearing her usual outfit instead of the Akatsuki cloak and used a Genjutsu to disguise the headband to not have a scratch through it.

She walked over to the front of the shop. Neji happened by and saw her. He called to her and she went over to him. She looked around and backed him against the side of the Ramen shop.

She took a rolled up piece of paper out of her pouch and handed it to him, "Give this to Mother and make sure Shikamaru is present when it's read. You never saw me understand?"

He nodded, "Right. I'll get this to her right away then."

Neji left and Zemaria went back to what she was going to do. Itachi found her and wasn't too far from Ichiraku. She approached him and he asked her what she was doing. She explained that Naruto was eating at Ichiraku and she had a plan to convince him to come along of his own free will. Itachi didn't think her plan would work.

She went inside and sat down next to Naruto. He looked over at her and didn't look too happy to see her there.

"What are _you_ doing in the Village?" He asked in a sour tone.

"Naruto, I understand that you're upset with me. Believe me when I say I didn't have a choice," she tried to be as sincere as possible.

Naruto paid for his Ramen and left. He didn't show any interest in talking to her. She left as well.

"Please Naruto, just hear me out. I need your help," she pleaded.

By now Itachi was disguised as a regular civilian of the Village and was out of sight. Naruto thought for a moment. He was clearly very mad at her. After all none of the Chuunin and Gennin were aware of her mission.

"Why me? What do you need _my_ help for?" He asked still mad.

"You know as well as I do that the Akatsuki is after the tailed-beasts. You're a Jinchuuriki and I am too. They aren't going to let me live just because I joined them. I want out. If I try on my own to leave, they'll kill me. I miss this Village and everyone in it. Naruto, you are the _only one_ that can help me with this," she worked her words carefully.

Naruto had his doubts about her, "Why not go to Grandma Tsunade?"

She shook her head, "She wants nothing to do with me. I can't go to her."

He clenched his fists, "The Zemaria I knew would never have left the Village! Especially not being married to Shikamaru with a baby on the way."

Naruto was so mad at her that he punched her. She stumbled back and gathered herself. Itachi wanted to interfere but decided not to. She tried being her old self and being kind but it wasn't working. She changed her tactic and entangled him in her vines.

She released her transformation, "You've given me no other choice. I'm sorry it has to be like this Naruto."

She and Itachi left with Naruto completely consumed by the vines. They left the Leaf and headed back for the Rain Village. They moved at an obscenely fast speed and arrived there in no time. The Rain Village was a lot farther and would have taken anyone going a normal speed at least four days. It took them a matter of hours instead.


	6. Chapter 6: A Mission in Chaos

Chapter Six

A Mission in Chaos

They went straight to Pein's office. Naruto was held up by the vines. They unwrapped from his head and only covered his mouth to prove it was really him. Zemaria wasn't sure if he trusted her still or not. Pein looked him over.

"I want you to take care of him but leave him barely breathing so the nine-tails can be extracted," he ordered her.

Her vines separated from his stomach area. She let out her claws and faced him. Itachi stood watching. She walked over to Naruto and got ready to stick her claws in him. Her hand shook lightly as she looked into his eyes. She knew she couldn't do it and that was the one thing she couldn't hide.

It felt like Shikamaru having her in a Shadow Possession it was so hard to move her hand. But Shikamaru wasn't there and she wasn't caught in a Shadow possession at all. As she stared at him she remembered all of the missions they had gone on together. There was the first B ranked mission where they fought Zabuza and Haku. The mission with the obnoxious rich kid that threw money around and called it a Jutsu.

That mission almost got the kid killed because Zemaria had gotten so fed up with him. Naruto was equally fed up but managed to keep his cool and keep Zemaria under control. That's what they did. They always kept each other under control. She couldn't do it.

"I knew it. You still have ties to the Leaf and their Shinobi. You can't be trusted anymore," Pein decided.

She retracted her claws, "You're right. I can never turn my back on the Leaf or anyone in it."

She had her vines let Naruto go and quickly had them snag Karasu from Tobi who was also in the room. The two of them; Zemaria and the baby disappeared. Zemaria appeared outside of Orochimaru's latest hideout. She stood there for a few minutes before Kabuto appeared near her. He was unsure if she was there peacefully or not.

"Lady Zemaria, what are you doing here? And how did you find this place?" He asked cautiously.

"It's okay Kabuto. I'm not here to fight anyone. Where's Father?" She asked him.

"Lord Orochimaru is out training Sasuke," he said.

She looked at him, "Where?"

He still didn't trust her, "Why should I tell you that?"

"Because I have his grandson who will be able to use Sharingan when he's older," she told him.

He reluctantly told her, "He's at the far field. Sasuke should still be with him."

She disappeared and reappeared close to Sasuke. Orochimaru was across the way. He was surprised to see here there. Sasuke turned in her direction. He wondered why she came there.

"What are you doing here, Zemaria?" Sasuke asked with an attitude.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to convince you to go back to the Leaf. I'm here for Father," she assured him.

Orochimaru saw the baby in her arms, "Is that your new baby?"

She nodded and started to walk toward him, "Yes. Karasu is his name. He's your grandson." She looked at Sasuke, "And _your_ nephew. He has Uchiha eyes."

"My... my brother's child? Itachi had a child with you?" Sasuke asked shocked.

"No Sasuke, your brother _raped_ me! He raped me and got me pregnant after his leader punched me in the stomach causing me to _lose_ the baby I _wanted_ to have to Shikamaru! This child is a rapist bastard's son!" She yelled enraged.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, "Don't you _dare_ talk about Itachi that way!"

"Or what? Are you going to kill me?" She asked.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Orochimaru yelled annoyed.

"Anyway," Zemaria started, "I've come here to willingly give Karasu to you Father. I don't want him. I don't want to raise him nor do I care what happens to him in your care."

Orochimaru was surprised, "You're willingly placing your child in my care?"

She handed the baby to him, "Yes, I am. Maybe he'll have a better life being raised by you unlike I did after you abandoned me in my third year of life."

Sasuke grew angry, "You're just going to hand over an Uchiha heir to the person that's been trying for _years_ to steal the Sharingan?"

"You're just mad because he's your nephew," she said.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan again. He and Zemaria started to fight. In the end she got the best of him and he was entangled in her vines; thorns facing out. She got right up to his face, her eyes filled with more evil than his and Orochimaru's combined.

"I'll say this just once; if you _ever_ try to, think about, or otherwise attempt to hurt my Father... I _will_ hunt you down and kill you in the absolute more _painful_ way possible! I don't care about him wanting you for your body are perverted as that seems. He is still my father and takes precedence over everyone else in my life including you. Unlike Sakura and Naruto who are constantly trying to find you and bring you back to the Village I couldn't care less about you returning," she threatened protectively.

His Sharingan deactivated, "You're a lot different from back then. You weren't so rash like Naruto. One thing that hasn't changed is the fact you always came off as being fearless."

"I've grown much more than you have and I didn't need Father's curse mark to do it. I did it on my own. I harnessed my _own_ abilities. That is true power. Anyway, I'm going to go before the Akatsuki comes looking for me and finds out I've given Karasu to Father," she said and disappeared.

Zemaria reappeared in Pein's office. Pein, Naruto, and Tobi were all gone. The only one that stayed was Itachi. He activated his Sharingan. He knew she took the baby to her Father but had no idea where he was. They stood there silent for several minutes.

"Where's Karasu?" Itachi finally asked.

"Somewhere you can't get to him," she said.

He narrowed his eyes, "Where's Orochimaru?"

She positioned herself for a fight, "Like I'd ever tell _you_."

"I had my suspicions that you didn't join us because of a betrayal to the Leaf. It seems those suspicions were correct," Itachi told her.

Zemaria catches a glimpse of Shikamaru behind the doorway. She keeps her focus on Itachi. Knowing Shikamaru he'll wait as long as he needs to before making his move. Zemaria slowly walks over to Itachi.

"Where's Naruto?" She asked.

"He got away. Are you looking to fight me again?" He asked calmly.

She shook her head, "I'm not going to fight you. I can't forgive you for what you've done to me. I'll always be mad at you for purposely kissing me in front of Shikamaru like that in the Leaf. But... there was just something there that I felt mixed in there."

She got closer to him and placed a hand on his cheek. With his eyes he could tell whether or not she was lying. This was different; he couldn't tell at all even with the Sharingan activated. Was she really telling the truth? She kissed him. As they kissed, he started having her back up until she was against Pein's desk. They continued to kiss and she moved her hand to his shoulder blade.

Moving her fingers in a way that he wouldn't tell, she sent Shikamaru a signal. At the sight of her signal, Shikamaru used his Shadow Possession Jutsu to immobilize Itachi. He made him move away from Zemaria. She stood up smiling lightly. She was so happy to see Shikamaru.

"I see. You were playing me. I should have known that," Itachi remained his calm self.

"So why didn't you? It's not like you to let yourself get caught in a Jutsu so easily," she said.

"Your lips were distracting me. I won't let it happen again," he told her.

She laughed, "You won't let it happen again? If you really wanted to kill me I'm sure you could get out of Shikamaru's Jutsu easily and kill me. You're not fighting back for a reason. Why?"

Itachi simply said, "I simply do not wish to kill you. That's it."

Shikamaru spoke up, "Zemaria, finish him off."

"It's not my place to kill him. Sasuke would be after me. And then I'd kill Sasuke and the Leaf would be after me. They're still hoping he'll return. Let's get going. We're finished here," she explained.

Shikamaru released his Shadow Possession. The two of them ran off. As they ran, Shikamaru explained that Neji had delivered her message to the Hokage and read it with him present as she requested. The message was information about the Akatsuki and their movements. It also contained information about the baby she gave birth to and that Pein had figured out she was really a spy.

They would want her dead for sure since she was no longer pregnant. They went searching around the Rain Village looking for Naruto. Zemaria stopped suddenly.

"Shikamaru, hold on," she said.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I hear Naruto's heart beat and Deidara's as well," she told him.

She started off again with Shikamaru close behind. She made a left, then a right, then made another right further up. Shikamaru stopped her. He felt he needed to tell her something that had been bothering him since she had arrived back at the Leaf.

Shikamaru asked her, "Do you know how painful it was when you came into the Village and you and Itachi were kissing in front of me?"

She replied, "As much as this is neither the time nor the place for this discussion, I _do_ know how you felt and how painful it was for you. It was just as painful for me too. At the time I had no choice." She faced him, "Shikkie, you are the only one for me. The only one my heart desires. I love you more than anyone in the world. I'm sorry you were put through all of that including my attack on you and Ino. I can't undo it."

"It just... it felt like my heart had been ripped in two," He clenched his hand to his chest.

It wasn't like Shikamaru to get so emotional. It was understandable however for him to feel that way. The rain poured down on them. Zemaria walked over to him and held him close. She rested her head on his shoulder. It was never her intentions of hurting him so. Like with all good dramatic scenes of anything; they stood together in silence. He finally wrapped his arms around her and he too rested his head on _her_ shoulder.

"You know, the Hokage is classifying my mission as S ranked. It's a drag but I couldn't let this Organization kill you or Naruto," he said to her.

She pulled away from him and smiled, "I'm so glad you're here and how much we've been through that you're still with me like this."

He kissed the side of her head and they went back to completing their mission. Soon they found them. Naruto was in his three-tail mode. His whole body was encased in the Nine-Tails' Chakra which was referred to as its cloak. He didn't have the same appearance as she and Gaara had before Gaara's Shukaku was extracted. They turned into a mini full visible version of their tailed beasts.

Speaking of which, Zemaria was enraged with Deidara and automatically protected Naruto. She went into her three-tail mode. The usual armor appeared along with her left eye closing. Sanbi always had his left eye closed. That was ultimately his biggest weakness. Like all turtles, he bared armor covering his whole body. This is what Zemaria's three-tails mode looked like.

She started out by using the three tails of hers to suppress Naruto's nine-tails. Once Naruto was back to his self, she focused on Deidara. Using the power of Sanbi, she set off a hyper beam attack at him. It appeared to have hit him directly. However, all was not as it appeared. Deidara had created a giant bird from his clay and had dodged her attack.

"You can't kill me that easily. Hm," he smiled.

He dropped small clay spiders from the sky. They landed on her and around her. Deidara made a hand sign followed by his expression that Zemaria always smacked him for afterwards 'art is a bang!'. That was Deidara for you. Always expressing how his clay figures are an expression of art. The explosions did little damage to Zemaria in her current state.

She let out a roar. Deidara realized he couldn't win against her the way she was. It was no joke taking on someone who was not only a Jinchuuriki but also the offspring of two Sannin. He fled. Shikamaru had gotten Naruto to safety before the battle had gotten too out of control. Zemaria suppressed the Three-Tails and returned to normal.

Like with her hyper beam attack and Deidara dodging, it only appeared to not do any damage when he attacked her back. She was injured but it wasn't severe. She was weakened from using Sanbi to fight him. Shikamaru signaled for a backup squad consisting of Leaf Anbu to aid him in getting Naruto and Zemaria back to the Leaf Village. She in nearly as bad a condition as Naruto so it made it a bit easier in the travel.

They traveled along until they needed to stop and rest. As they rested, Zemaria provided them with more detailed information on the Akatsuki and everything she had paid attention to working with them. She was able to provide profiles of each member and information on which ones were currently deceased. The ones left were; Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigake, Pein, Konan, Deidara, Hidan, and Zetsu. After Sasori died, Tobi came into the picture.

"What can you tell us about this Tobi person?" An Anbu asked.

She shook her head solemnly, "Not much. But there _is_ one thing in particular about him. He possesses the Sharingan. I've seen it under his mask."

"What? Do you think he could be an Uchiha? Or did he simply acquire it like Kakashi did?" The Anbu asked.

"The level of his Sharingan is a lot higher than Kakashi-Sensei's. I suspect that he's really an Uchiha. I just don't know who," she told them.

Shikamaru wondered, "The most known Uchiha is Madara. Next to him is Itachi."

She nodded, "That's right. However, Madara died a very long time ago."


	7. Chapter 7: Mission Fail or Success?

Chapter Seven

Mission Fail or Success?

After a few short hours of rest, they continued on to the Leaf Village. It took two days before they arrived. Zemaria and Naruto were taken to the hospital to get checked over. Naruto's entire body appeared burned from the Nine-Tails' cloak. Once she was cleared from the hospital she reported to Tsunade in concerns to the mission.

"So you neither completed the mission nor did you completely fail it. I'm not sure if this was a success or not. However, you _did_ manage to obtain a vast amount of information on the members, their movements, plans, and which ones have been killed," Tsunade told her.

"Yes. The deceased members are Sasori of the Red Sand and Kakazu. Hidan, Deidara, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigake, Pein who is the leader of them, Konan, Zetsu, and the more recent member joined nine months ago after Sasori's death Tobi. I was unable to obtain much information about him," Zemaria explained.

Tsunade looked intently, "I see. And what happened to the baby you gave birth to?"

"Don't kill me but I willingly gave him to Father," she said ready to take cover.

Tsunade slammed her hands on the desk, "You did _what_!?"

She hesitated a bit, "I... gave him to Father?"

"You handed over a child that will one day be capable of using the Sharingan to _OROCHIMARU_!? Why on _Earth_ would you _do_ that!? Do you realize what you've done?!" She yelled at her.

"I... well... you see..." she tried to say. "Look, you know as well as I do that I didn't want the baby. I wanted to start a family with Shikamaru, not raise a baby from someone who _murdered_ his _entire_ clan! It's only natural I'd want to give the baby up," she argued.

"You didn't have to give him to Orochimaru! You know that when the kid comes of the right age he'll just use his body and obtain the very thing the Village has been preventing him from taking all those years!" Tsunade argued back.

Zemaria took a deep breath and sighed, "When that day comes, I'll assume sole responsibility for his actions. No matter what it is that he does after obtaining the Sharingan from Karasu I'll take responsibility for it."

Jiraiya was lurking outside the window, "Am I hearing all of this right? Zemaria, you willingly knowing the consequences to your actions gave Orochimaru an heir to the Sharingan?"

"Jiraiya? Yes, I did. If it means that one day I'll have to be detained and placed in jail because of Father's actions then so be it. For now I'd like to assume my duties as a Shinobi of the Leaf Village," she said.

Tsunade thought a moment, "All right then. You are hereby reinstated as a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. Tomorrow you will take the Jounin Exam and provided you pass, you will take over the leadership duties of Kakashi's squad consisting of Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and the newly added Sai."

She looked at her curiously, "Sai? I've never heard of anyone named Sai."

"He's part of the Foundation which was supposed to have been disbanded years ago due to rumors of a conspiracy headed by Danzo. He always hated the Third Hokage and since I was one of his former students, he hates me as well. I'd like you to keep an eye on Sai if you are to be leading the squad."

"Of course. That's no problem at all," she said.

"The shy little girl grows up," Jiraiya wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She glanced at him and turned her attention to Tsunade again, "If you don't mind, I'd like to make things better between me and Shikamaru. We have a lot to discuss."

Tsunade nodded, "By all means. I'll mark your mission up as complete and successful. This will be added as your first S Ranked mission. You're dismissed."

Zemaria leaves and was on her way back home. Naruto was still in the hospital. She decided to make a side trip to see him. The moment she entered the hospital, the nurse on duty was shocked to see her. Even the hospital staff thought her betrayal was real.

"Lady Zemaria! What are you doing in the Village? You were supposed to have betrayed us all," the nurse said.

"It's okay. It was all part of a mission so I could infiltrate the Akatsuki. It's over now and I'm officially back. I take it you weren't on duty when I was brought in for minor injuries after a battle with one member," she informed.

"I see. Are you here to see Kakashi or Naruto?" She asked.

"Kakashi-Sensei is here?" Zemaria was surprised at this.

The nurse nodded, "Yes. He was brought in a few days ago. He was in a battle with one of the Akatsuki members and was pretty badly injured."

"Well then, I'd like to pay a visit to both if possible," she said to her.

The nurse nodded again and led her to Kakashi's room first. She knocked on the door and opened it. Kakashi was awake but looked horrible.

"Zemaria? You're back. I was unaware of your return," he said.

She walked over to him, "I got back earlier today. Was taken care of after getting injured in a battle with Deidara. I'm going to be taking the Jounin Exam tomorrow."

"That's good. You did well with the Chuunin Exam and I'm sure you'll do just as well with the Jounin Exam. After all, you just survived the highest ranking mission; the S ranked mission. Only Anbu and high level Jounin ever get assigned to S ranked missions. Either way, it's great to have you back," he said possibly smiling.

You can never tell if Kakashi smiles or not behind his mask. He never took it off, not even when in the hospital. He really had missed her being in the Village. A lot had gone on while she was away being an S class criminal like all of the Akatsuki members.

She was only allowed a short visit with him before she had to move on to Naruto. In the short amount of time she divulged a bit of information about the Akatsuki members like she had explained with Tsunade. She was well aware that since the mission was S ranked, she couldn't give too many people a lot of information about it. Kakashi was one of the exceptions as he was formerly part of Anbu Black Ops.

After telling him about the Akatsuki she said her farewell and the nurse came back into the room. She led her to Naruto's room knocking on the door before entering. Naruto too was in a bad condition. His whole body practically was wrapped up in bandages. He saw her and wasn't sure if he should smile or glare. Zemaria _was_ responsible for him almost getting killed by the Akatsuki after all.

"Are you still mad at me Naruto?" She asked standing in the doorway still.

He groaned and grumbled, "You almost got me killed. Why? Why would you do that?"

He looked down and it looked as though he was about to just break down in tears. Zemaria shifted a bit and walked a few steps inside the room. She closed the door behind her. He was one of those she couldn't tell details to about her mission.

"I already told you, I had no choice. I couldn't blow my cover. There was a reason why no one knew about my mission. The _only_ ones who knew besides Mother was all of the Jounin and Shikamaru. The Jounin had to know in order for my betrayal of the Village to work and be as believable as possible. And I requested that Shikamaru know because I didn't want him to think that I really _was_ going to leave him behind," she explained hoping he'd understand.

Naruto clenched his hands into fists, "So you didn't trust me enough to tell me? Was that it?"

She shook her head, "No, that wasn't it at all. None of the Villagers, Academy Students, Anbu, Gennin, or Chuunin besides Shikamaru were aware that I had been given an S ranked mission that involved getting close to the Akatsuki. It wasn't about trust it was about believability."

"I see. What happened to your baby? Is he here in the Village now? Or did you leave him with the Akatsuki?" Naruto asked.

She answered, "Neither. I... I gave him to Father. I didn't want him and if he stayed with Itachi he'd end up being a killer with no remorse or emotion. At least when I was born, some of that evil inside of my Father disappeared. He's shown a loving side that no one thought would have existed in him. That's not possible for Itachi to feel. He kills without remorse but he also kills only when it's needed."

He clenched his teeth, "So he's in the care of that snake Orochimaru!?"

"My father may literally be a snake but I'd advise you not to call him that. He's still my father," she said.

They had a fairly long conversation before she excused herself. She told him she was on her way home to see Shikamaru and figure out where things stood with them. It was obvious they'd still be married and together but they had nine months to catch up on. Shikamaru also still wanted a family like he did when he was fighting in the Chuunin exams and that's what he was thinking about being the diversion to hold off the Sound Ninja pursuing his squad when they were going after Sasuke to stop him from fighting Gaara.

She left the Hospital and continued home. Along the way she saw Asuma. He was walking with Kurenai who appeared to be pregnant. That was odd. Since when did Kurenai become pregnant? It looked like she was already at least three months along. They saw Zemaria down the path a ways.

"Lady Zemaria? You've come back," Kurenai said.

"Yes, I've been here since early today. I was on my way home. You're pregnant..." she said.

Asuma told her, "You've been away so long. I'm sure you aren't aware about my relationship with Kurenai."

Zemaria was shocked, "Asuma, you and Kurenai? Well congratulations. I wish the both of you the best of luck and happiness."

"Thank you," Kurenai smiled.

"Yeah, thank you so much," Asuma placed his arm around Kurenai's waist.

Kurenai said, "I guess we'll let you get back to Shikamaru. I'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about."

She nodded, "Yes we do. I'll see you around."

She once again continued on her way. Finally, she made it home. Shikamaru was in the shower. Hearing the water going, she 'ninja snuck' her way to the bathroom. He had a habit of not locking the door. She silently entered stripping in the process and snuck into the shower behind him. She wrapped her arms around him.

Shikamaru laughed lightly, "Come to join me I see."

She giggled, "Of course I did."

He removed her arms to turn around and placed them back where they were. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then on the lips. Well, it looked like he wouldn't be able to actually finish his shower with Zemaria present. They decided to make up for lost time before they had their talk. There was really no resisting it. After they were through, Shikamaru helped her dry off. When they were both dry, they got dressed again.

"I'd like for us to try again to start a family," Zemaria said walking in to the bedroom.

Shikamaru followed behind, "I'd like that."

"I know you really want a family and it's something that'll make you happy," she said smiling.

He kissed her, "It's so good to have you back here. I should be the only one who kisses you."

She giggled, "And other things to."

"Yes, especially other things," he said.

They went over and sat on the bed together. Zemaria told him everything that happened during her mission. Once Sasori was killed, she was assigned Deidara as her partner. They had captured two Jinchuuriki together and extracted the Bijuus from them. When they weren't going after Jinchuuriki they were off looking to find ways of getting money.

She thought back to the one day they went in search of money. Deidara wanted to pillage small Villages. They had an easy time going through those types. The first Village they entered felt like a ghost town. They didn't think there would be any money to steal there.

"Man, this place is totally deserted," Zemaria noticed.

"You're right. Hm," he said.

"Let's keep moving. There's probably nothing even here," she suggested.

They reached about halfway into the Village when a group of thugs blocked their way. Some of them appeared to be rouge Ninja like them while others were just plain old thugs. They looked at them with a mean look in their eyes ready to kill. Zemaria and Deidara were absolutely calm.

"Nice cloaks you got there. Looks like you're with the Akatsuki," one said.

"What's it to _you_ if we are?" Zemaria asked.

"Well, there's a huge bounty on the heads of all of the Akatsuki members. All of them are also in every bingo book," he said.

Zemaria glanced over at Deidara, "Well now. Aren't _we_ popular?

He smiled, "Let me handle this."

She stepped back. Being pregnant, he didn't want her to lose the baby if she got hurt. It was silent as they all stood there in a standoff.

One of the rouge Ninja looked at Zemaria, "I haven't seen your face in the bingo book before or on any wanted posters."

"I'm sure my bounty wouldn't be too high. I'm a new rouge," she said.

Another thug asked, "So what did you _do_ to end up a rouge?"

"Like I'd tell _you_ that?" She said.

This pissed him off. They attacked and Deidara protected Zemaria as much as he could while fighting them. It wasn't that hard of a fight except for the other rouge Ninja involved. The battle lasted almost twenty minutes before they were all lying on the ground dead. Zemaria did help by using her vines and immobilizing them.

"Let's see how much they have on them. Hm," he said.

She nodded, "Right."

They searched each one for any money. Most of them had very little on them. A few however, must have had success with their kills of other rouges because they were practically loaded. The excursion was a success. In total they gathered around 5,000 ryo. They moved on to the next Village.

Zemaria told Shikamaru how once they reached the next closest Village they had done a lot more damage. Regrettably they had burned several of the houses down and were killing a lot of people. This wasn't like the first one. This Village had women, children, and average men. There weren't thugs or thieves or even rouges. It was just your every day run of the mill Village.

They went in there and pillaged the place. Deidara was basically in a killing spree mood that day. It was awful. She had to kill women and children just so her cover wouldn't be blown. The only person in the Village that was of any importance was their leader. He was the son of a feudal Lord of another land. Something that had been bothering Zemaria since then was if the Lord ended up getting word of his son's death by their hands.

She had been instructed by Deidara to torture him until he gave them all of his money and any other possessions that could be sold for money. What if the Lord tried to track her down and have her pay for torturing and killing his son? I mean it's been at least seven months now since it happened but still. He could have people right now trying to track them both down.

"If push comes to shove, I'm sure Lady Tsunade would have an explanation for your actions. You were on a high level top secret mission at the time and couldn't risk having your cover blown," Shikamaru reassured her.

"I know..." she said a bit down.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. They talked a while longer before going to sleep. She told him before they did sleep that she was to take the Jounin Exam in the morning. He wished her luck and wanted her to stop worrying about the crimes she committed while on her mission. It wasn't like she had a real choice in the matter at all.

That night she dreamed about it. She remembered the houses up in flames. Women and children screaming and running for their lives. Deidara dropping explosives everywhere and going around stealing all their money. And then she dreamed about torturing the Lord's son. It was horrible.

In no time at all morning came. She got up, got dressed, and headed off to the building used for the Exam. As she approached the building, she saw Kakashi standing outside reading his book. What was he doing there?

"Ah good morning Zemaria," he greeted.

"Kakashi-Sensei, what are you doing here? I thought you were in the hospital still," she said.

"I was but was discharged late last night," he told her.


	8. Chapter 8: Jounin Exam and a New Team

Chapter Eight

Jounin Exam and New Team

"So why are you here?" She asked again.

"Oh, well I'm the Jounin overseeing your Exam today. My duty is to judge your ability to see whether or not you are performing at a Jounin level. In addition, I can step in at _any_ time to make things harder. In that case, not only would you have to reach the other side of the battle arena but you'd also have to defeat _me_," he explained.

"I see. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume there are booby traps setup everywhere," she said.

He nodded, "Yes there are. Let's get started."

They walked inside and Kakashi went up to the viewing level. The entire building was pitch black. It was zero visibility. She carefully attempted to asses her surroundings. Focusing, she closed her eyes and focused on the sounds around her. She started inward taking her time. So far, so good. There weren't any traps activated. She decided to proceed on her tippy toes. Maneuvering around she was able to avoid the traps.

Kakashi stepped in after about five minutes. She heard his heart beat closer than it was when she started out. He started out with a simple attack; kunai and shuriken being thrown her way. Staying focused she dodged each and every one of them. Her eyes stayed closed. When she dodged the last one, a trap was activated. She opened her eyes and quickly dodged it.

Once she was out of the way Kakashi activated his Chidori. She got her lightning palm ready. They charged at each other.

"Lightning Palm!" She yelled and nailed him in the chest.

He flew back a few feet. Her attack would definitely had done a lot less damage than his. She defeated him and it only took one attack. Continuing on, she ended up making it to the other side of the building and completing the exam. Kakashi passed her. She was officially a Jounin.

Zemaria reported back to Tsunade with Kakashi about the exam. Kakashi informed her that Zemaria had the capability and battle skills needed to be at the level of Jounin. Tsunade accepted his decision and she became the new leader of his squad which she was formerly a part of. Kakashi was dismissed and Tsunade placed a photo of a young boy around her age on the front of her desk.

"You'll be leading Team Kakashi formerly Team 7 from now on. There has since been a member added. I'd like you to keep an eye on him. His name is Sai," she told her.

"Is there a specific reason why you're requesting my keeping an eye on him?" She asked.

Tsunade nodded, "Yes. He came direct from the Foundation an extension of the Anbu Black Ops led by a man named Danzo. The Foundation was supposed to have been dismantled a _long_ time ago back when the Third Hokage first took leadership of the Village. Apparently it's still around."

"So you're saying you don't trust Sai," she deduced.

"That's right. I don't trust him. Danzo hated the Third. Because of my being a former student of his, Danzo doesn't like me either. He'd do anything to prove I'm a bad Hokage," she told her.

Zemaria took in all of the information, "All right Mother, I'll keep a close eye on them."

Tsunade explained her first mission with her old squad. They were to investigate some recent movements of the Akatsuki. They were plans she hadn't been informed about during her mission. Two of the Organization's members were spotted not far from the Land of Fire. She wanted them to gain Intel on why they were poking around in the area.

After being dismissed, she met up with Naruto, Sakura, and Sai. They were unaware about the leader change. She waited by the main gates for them. Kotetsu and Izuma were there keeping an eye on things like always. They were happy to see her.

"It's so good to have you back here in the Village Lady Zemaria," Kotetsu smiled.

"I'm glad to be back. You know, I'm a Jounin now," she smiled back.

"_Really_? Well that's great news!" Izuma congratulated.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sai finally made it to the gates. They were surprised to see Zemaria there. Sai was confused as he hadn't met Zemaria before.

"Zemaria? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked.

"I've been appointed your new leader for the squad. I took the Jounin test yesterday and passed. Mother wanted me to take over for Kakashi," she explained.

"Is something wrong with Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked.

She shook her head, "No, he just has a lot of other important things he's been asked to do so he'll be unable to lead the squad for a while."

Naruto appeared to still be mad at Zemaria over her mission. It wasn't like Naruto to hold a grudge for more than a few days. Zemaria knew something was wrong with him. He hadn't really said anything since he realized she was leading the squad now.

"Why did Grandma Tsunade pick _you_ to lead this squad?" He said a hint of anger in his voice.

Zemaria's voice was gently for once, "Naruto, you don't understand. When I left the Village it was for a high ranking mission. It wasn't a real betrayal. If it were, I wouldn't have come back and the circumstances would have been far worse. If I were to betray the Village, I'd have tried to kill Mother. Not because I'd be following Father's suit but because she'd be the only one that could successfully apprehend me."

"I still don't get it! Why not just go on the mission and gather the information without staging a betrayal?" He asked.

"That wouldn't have worked. It was the Akatsuki and they're too smart to let someone gather intelligence without getting caught. They had to believe I betrayed my Village and was wanted by them. The explosions that went off that day were only made through an elaborate Genjutsu. It was activated using a secret technique through paper bombs. Trust me, I knew what I was doing. It was highly thought out," she explained.

"I guess I understand better," Naruto said.

"Come on, we have a mission to do," she said.

They left the Village. Zemaria at first didn't acknowledge nor did she ask about Sai. She wanted to silently observe him during part of the travel. She also wanted to see how he interacted with Sakura and Naruto. The three of them had been on the team together for only a few weeks. Zemaria had been back in the Village for a couple of days. Within that time she never came across Sai.

"Um- if you don't mind my asking, is there a reason why you haven't asked about me yet?" Sai asked walking next to her.

"I'm a silent observer. I was told you were recently placed in the same squad as Sakura and Naruto. I just figured I'd see how you interact with them is all," she told him.

"I see. Zemaria, was it? You're no older than myself, Naruto, and Sakura," he noticed.

"That's right. I was on this team a while back. We were the only squad with including Kakashi-Sensei; five people. There was one extra person in the group that graduated and that was me. Since they needed to place me with a group, I was placed in Naruto and Sakura's along with Sasuke," she explained.

Sakura randomly asked, "Oh I forgot, do you want us to call you Zemaria-Sensei even though you're the same age as us?"

Zemaria smiled, "You can keep calling me Zemaria."

Sai asked, "What about me?"

She glared at him, "_You_ can call me _Lady_ Zemaria."

"It appears as though you do not like me very much," he said without emotion.

"I have trust issues. It'll take time before I start to trust you... Sai," she said.

Zemaria explained the mission to them. She directly and openly made it clear to Sai that if he did or said _anything_ to upset or piss Naruto or Sakura off she'd kill him. They were her friends and she'd protect them with her life. After explaining the mission, they continued on their way. Two of the Akatsuki members; Hidan and his new partner Zetsu had killed Chiriku of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

In normal circumstances a mission like this would have been given to Asuma and his squad. However, they were off on another mission. It was up to Zemaria and her squad to find Hidan and Zetsu. They had killed Chiriku because he had a bounty on his head. Asuma too had a bounty on him as he was part of the Twelve Guardians.

After they took care of those two, they were to follow up on a lead in concerns to Deidara and Tobi. Zemaria knew that these missions would be dangerous. She was chosen for them because of her extensive knowledge on each member. The only one she _wasn't_ sure about was Tobi. She hadn't been around him as much as the others.

Sakura noticed Zemaria looked a bit down or worried, "Zemaria, is every okay? You seem a little down or maybe a little worried about something."

"Oh, I was just thinking about the mission and who we'll be up against. These Ninja are no joke. You found that out the first time you and Naruto fought them. Mother chose _me_ for this and the next mission because of my extensive knowledge of the Akatsuki members. But still, that Tobi guy concerns me. I wasn't around him long enough to find out a lot about him," she said concerned.

Sakura didn't know what to say. She and Lady Chiyo had fought Sasori while Naruto and Kakashi took on Deidara. Sasori was dead but Deidara was still alive. They had been walking for so long that they hadn't realized they already made it to the rendezvous point where Hidan and Zetsu were to claim the bounty. Just as they arrived, the two came walking out of the building. Zetsu was holding a briefcase.

Hidan saw Zemaria, "Well now if it isn't the spy. Zemaria are you here to try and stop us?"

She prepared for a fight, "Absolutely. You've killed for the last time Hidan!"

"Hidan, do you want me to sit this fight out? Will you be okay against her?" Zetsu asked.

"I'll be fine. She can't kill me anyway. Her vines don't scare me," he said.

Zemaria told Sai and the others to gather around. She needed to give them details on the two standing before them. She told them Hidan was an immortal. As far as she knew, nothing could kill him. Zetsu was able to consume whole bodies after they've died. He was dangerous just with _that_ ability.

After giving them the needed information, she took lead in the plan since they knew her and their most powerful attacks would be from anger towards her. She didn't need her friends getting the brunt of their anger when it wasn't them they were mad at. She started off with a few immortal clones. Her vines were ready to be used if needed. She wondered if maybe her poison would kill Hidan. Since it wasn't a physical attack it could possibly work.

Yeah, she could try that if she could get her vines to inject the poison into him. Zetsu stood there wondering what she was up to. Fortunately for Zemaria, she had never shown them too many of her Jutsu or her tactic methods. Right now she had the upper hand.

Hidan laughed at her, "Do you honestly think you can kill me?"

Zemaria responded, "I'm sure I could. There's no harm in trying!"

"Bring it on traitor!" He yelled getting his scythe from his back.

"Whatever you do, don't let him get your blood on his scythe. That's how he uses his main Jutsu. If that happens... you're dead," she told the three of them.

They all nodded together, "Right."

She did hand signs, "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu!"

It was a Jutsu the Third Hokage had used during her and Orochimaru's fight with him. An Earth dragon formed from the ground. Hidan impatiently charged at her.

She did more hand signs, "Fire Style: Earth Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

The dragon flame Jutsu came from the Earth Dragon she created. This was different than the Third Hokage's Jutsu. The flames hit Hidan directly. Of course that wasn't going to kill him. She was trying to slow him down. It worked but it wouldn't for long. Hidan was on fire.

"Let's cool you off shall we?" She asked and did hand signs, "Water Style: Weeping Water Jutsu!"

The sky turned dark and cloudy. It started to rain. The fire went out that had engulfed Hidan. He was more infuriated than he was before. The one thing about him was that he never thought before acting or speaking. In a way he was like a bad guy version of Naruto; cocky and over confident.

"Let's make things interesting!" He swung his scythe at her.

She dodged it, "Ooh so close."

"Don't you _dare_ mock me!" He yelled and swung again.

She kept dodging while Sakura and the others put their parts of the plan into action. The rain stopped and the clouds disappeared. Sai opened his scroll and drew lions. It was his super beast scroll technique. This was pretty much his specialty and main Jutsu.

The battle raged on. Naruto used his Shadow Clone Jutsu. His clones created the best distraction for Sakura to get close enough to use her monstrous strength to knock him down. Zemaria's immortal clones worked on getting his scythe away from him. For getting back together after so long, they were working very well together.

Even with the addition of Sai and the loss of Sasuke, their teamwork and flow with strategy had never been that great. They'd mess up or get in each other's way. It was never this flawless. Sakura and Naruto had truly grown as Shinobi. Their training was amazing.

"You both will die here!" Zemaria yelled.

Naruto had Rasengan ready and went in for the attack, "Rasengan!"

Hidan's eyes went wide. What was _that_? A ball of Chakra? Hidan tried to avoid the impact of the blow. He shifted _just_ enough to avoid any serious damage but in doing so, his arm was severed at the shoulder. Now he knew how Deidara felt when he lost his arms.

"Awe man! Come on! I need that arm!" He was more pissed off than before.

"You picked the wrong Shinobi to kill!" Sakura yelled.


	9. Chapter 9: Battle Between Good & Evil

Chapter Nine

Battle Between Good & Evil

Sakura focused her chakra in her hand which was set as a fist. She made an attack but Hidan dodged it and as her fist met the ground, it made a huge impact. The fight dragged on until Hidan managed to get a small amount of blood from Zemaria. He used his own blood to draw a ritual symbol on the ground. It was a circle with a triangle inside of it.

"Eee-hee-hee ha! You're dead _now_!" Hidan cackled.

"Damn it!" Zemaria yelled frustrated.

"Hey, Zemaria... what's wrong?" Naruto asked.

She clenched her teeth, "It's all over. If he performs his ritual I'm dead. There's no stopping it either."

Naruto gasped, "His... ritual?"

She nodded, "Yes. He uses his opponent's blood in order to link himself to them and then while standing inside of his symbol he created using his own blood, he stabs himself in order to kill his opponent. It's an attack that's specific to him."

Hidan smirked and licked the blood he took from Zemaria. He then stabbed himself on the right side around the lung area just to toy with her. She screamed in pain taking a step back and coughed up a bit of blood. Sakura grew nervous and concerned. Sai tried to attack him. Zemaria told them to get him out of the symbol on the ground. He could only use his technique if he was standing within the symbol.

They concocted a plan to force him out of the symbol. They're plan was a failure. Hidan began to really toy with her. He stabbed himself in the shoulder area. Zemaria screamed in pain again. She tried to wrap her vines around him. She felt the same pain that he did. The thorns were piercing his skin.

"Zemaria! What are you doing!? You're only hurting _yourself_!" Naruto yelled.

"I know that!" She yelled back.

Her skin was pierced, same as Hidan's. He laughed at her trying to injure him but instead injuring herself in the process. Just when things looked hopeless, a backup squad arrived. It was Asuma, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. Did Tsunade send them?

"Asuma, did Mother send you?" She asked still focused on Hidan.

"Yes, she did. She had the feeling you and your team were in trouble and would need some backup," Asuma told her.

"So what are the enemies' attacks?" Shikamaru asked.

"Forget about Hidan. It's too late to do anything now. He's already activated his special technique. Anything he does to himself or we do to him will in turn reflect onto me too," she told them.

Shikamaru gasped, "What? So if he kills himself, he kills _you_ too?"

She nodded, "That's right."

Shikamaru went into his thinking mode. He thought of his battle tactic. Finally, he asked Zemaria if there was a way to disrupt his technique. She told him the only way would be to get him out of his ritual symbol on the ground. Shikamaru got his plan. Asuma headed the plan. Eventually Shikamaru was able to catch him in his Shadow Possession Jutsu and get him out of the symbol.

Everyone attacked accordingly to Shikamaru's well thought out plan. Zemaria brought her claws out. She ran toward Hidan and dug her claws into his chest. Unfortunately during the battle he obtained _Asuma's_ blood and had managed to make his way back to his ritual symbol. So instead of Zemaria killing Hidan, she sealed Asuma's fate.

She gasped looking at where Hidan was standing, "...No."

"You just killed one of your own!" He smiled laughing at her.

Asuma gasped for breath, "Lady Zemaria..."

Shikamaru yelled, "Asuma!"

"You asshole!" Zemaria yelled at Hidan.

She removed her claws from him. She didn't mean to kill Asuma. In fact, she didn't even see Hidan get Asuma's blood or go back on his symbol. How could she let this happen? She took a few steps backwards as Asuma collapsed on the ground.

"I... I didn't... I didn't mean to-," she was practically freaking out.

"Zemaria? Calm down," Shikamaru tried to calm her.

She shook her head and ran off leaving her team and Asuma's behind. Right now, she couldn't handle seeing her own comrade dying in front of her by her hands. While Zemaria was running off, Pein contacted Hidan through his mind to call him and Zetsu back to their hideout. They were needed to extract another Jinchuuriki.

They ran off. Asuma was slowly losing consciousness. Sakura decided to look for Zemaria. Her level of Medical Ninjutsu was far above her own or Ino's. Ino started to try and heal his wound. Sakura found Zemaria not too far away sitting in a tree.

"Zemaria? Why did you run off like that?" Sakura asked.

"I'm responsible for nearly killing Asuma. He could die because of my carelessness," she said in tears.

"It was an accident. Besides, you're Medical Ninjutsu is a lot higher than mine or Ino's. Come back and help heal him. You can right your mistake," she told her.

Zemaria stared down to Sakura and jumped out of the tree. She was right. There was still time to save him. They went back together. Zemaria knelt down next to Asuma and started to heal him. After a few minutes, she stopped.

"Why did you stop?" Chouji asked.

She closed her eyes and took her hands away from his body, "I'm sorry. He's bleeding too much internally. I struck Hidan in the heart. I thought I could right my mistake by healing him but-."

"So... you're saying he'll die _anyway_?" Shikamaru asked nervous.

"I'm so sorry. I- I didn't mean for this to happen!" Zemaria started crying again.

She stood up and again ran off. This time Naruto went after her. You might be thinking that Naruto may not have been the best choice to have someone comfort a girl. But he was a very sentimental person and was just as caring as any girl could be to another girl.

"Hey," he simply said standing in front of Zemaria who was sitting against a tree.

"I was careless and now Asuma is as good as dead. There's no way he'd get back to the Village in time for Mother to take a look at him," she said weighed down with guilt.

Naruto knelt down, "Just stop it."

She stared at him, "Huh? Naruto..."

He shook his head, "Just stop it. You can't put all of the blame on yourself. That creep Hidan is the one that managed to get Asuma-Sensei's blood and end up in that symbol thing he had on the ground."

"I should have been paying closer attention. He only managed to _do_ that because I wasn't watching what he was doing. If I had noticed he was standing there, I wouldn't have acting so rash," she said.

Meanwhile, Asuma whispered something in Shikamaru's ear. Afterward, he told them not to cry. Each of them had grown up so much and grown in strength as well. They weren't the weak Gennin from the Academy anymore. They were strong Chuunin with great things ahead of them. Shikamaru was married and already planning a family, Ino had a secret admirer, and Chouji even found a sweet girl to call his own.

They had to learn to deal with loss and continue to have happiness and love in their lives. Sakura was even in tears. Sai of course felt no emotion but wondered what sadness would feel like. After a bit, Naruto returned with Zemaria but Asuma was already dead. She summoned a messenger snake and sent it off with a message to bring Medical Ninja with a stretcher to get Asuma back to the Village.

"Asuma..." Zemaria's eyes were glazed with tears.

"Asuma-Sensei," Shikamaru was crying.

Zemaria knelt beside him, pulled him close, and rested his head on her shoulder. The rule of the Shinobi: Never show your emotions. It was an absurd rule in the face of seeing someone you cared about dying. But it was said that showing emotion clouded one's judgment and made it dangerous during missions. The Medical Ninja arrived to take Asuma back to the Village.

"Zemaria, it is my understanding that you were responsible for Asuma's death. Is that true?" Tsunade asked her after she summoned her to the office.

"Mother, I can explain. It was an accident. I- I didn't mean to-," she was near tears again.

"There is no excuse for what happened on your mission!" Tsunade yelled at her.

"Mother please! I'm not trying to make an excuse for what happened! Just listen to me. Hidan got the better of us all," Zemaria tried to explain.

Tsunade shook her head, "I'm very disappointed in you. Because of this, I'm barring you from future missions for two months!"

Zemaria was taken back, "What!? But Mother-!"

She cut her off, "No butts! My decision is _final_!"

Tsunade turned her back on Zemaria. That was her way of dismissing her. Two month being barred from going on missions. She _just_ became a Jounin.

"Way to screw up Zemaria," she said aloud as she walked out of the Hokage building.

Walking along, she hung her head not paying attention to where she was walking. She ended up walking right into Iruka. She stopped and looked at him. Iruka could see something was bothering her. It was written all over her face.

"Lady Zemaria, what's wrong?" Iruka asked concerned.

"Oh, Iruka-Sensei. Mother barred me from going on missions for two months. She just wouldn't listen to me when I tried to explain what happened on the mission. It's not like I killed Asuma on purpose," she said solemnly.

Iruka placed a hand on her shoulder, "I heard something going around about that. Why don't you tell _me_ what happened. Maybe I can explain it to Lady Tsunade for you and have her change her mind."

She explained the whole thing over a bowl of Ramen at Ichiraku. Actually she was so upset she ended up eating as much Ramen as Naruto; six bowls full. Iruka hadn't noticed until she finished the last bowl. That girl could really eat when she was upset. Iruka comforted her and told her to go home to Shikamaru. He would take care of everything now that he knew the whole story.

She nodded and walked off feeling a little less upset by everything. Iruka knew how to make people feel better. It was what he was best at. You just couldn't stay mad or upset after talking with him. Zemaria got home but Shikamaru wasn't there.

"Shikkie?" She asked looking around for him.

She wondered where he could have been. Finally, she realized he must have been out at the one place that helped him think. She left the house and looked for him. She checked the spot where he first made friends with Chouji. He wasn't there. She decided to go to the spot where he and Asuma used to lay on the grass together and just talk and watch the clouds.

That was where he was. He was lying on the grass staring up at the sky just watching the clouds drift by. She sat on the ground next to him and laid back. He didn't even notice her there next to him.

"Shikkie-," she started.

"We would talk here. I'd watch the clouds drift by. He'd tell me how I needed to think more about training and being a Shinobi as opposed to being unmotivated and staring at clouds all day," Shikamaru told her.

"I can't tell you how many times I'm sorry for this. No matter how many people tell me it's not all my fault, I'll always feel that it is," she said.

He looked at her, "You can blame yourself all you want. It won't bring him back. It's really _not_ all your own fault. That guy was just hot headed and hasty. He was also sly and got the better of all of us. You can ask yourself all you want 'what if'; what if we had all paid closer attention? What if one of us, just _one_ of us had seen him get Asuma's blood and get back inside the symbol? It won't change what happened."

She looked at him as he looked at her, "Shikamaru-,"

"Zem, leave it go," he said as he sat up.

His voice was so emotionless. It wasn't like him. Repositioning himself, he leaned back, moved around, placed his head on her shoulder, and wrapped an arm over her stomach area. They laid like that for a while before they both drifted off to sleep. Zemaria hadn't told him about her mother's decision about barring her from missions.

When Zemaria opened her eyes, a team of Anbu were standing over her. She looked at them a bit confused. Taking her free hand that Shikamaru wasn't laying on, she gently woke him up.

"Lady Zemaria, you need to come with us," one Anbu said.

"Huh? Hey, what's going on?" Shikamaru asked seeing the Anbu.

"Does this have to do with Asuma?" She asked.

Another one nodded, "It does. You need to come with us Lady Zemaria."

Shikamaru went on the defense, "Wait a minute! What happened to Asuma-Sensei was an accident. Why do you need to talk to her about it?"

"This doesn't concern you. It only concerns us and Lady Zemaria," a third Anbu said.

"If you don't come with us willingly, we'll have to take you by force," the first one told her.

"Shikkie, I'll be fine," she told him and said to the Anbu, "Force won't be necessary."

She stood up and walked off with the team of Anbu. They brought her to the interrogation room. Ibiki was there. She wondered why he was there though. Usually they only brought him in if the Anbu couldn't get information out of the person. Then his psychological technique came into play.

"Ibiki? Why are you in here?" She decided to ask.

"I asked to be here to question you. My normal methods won't be needed," he said.

"I tried to explain to Mother what happened. She wouldn't listen to me," she told him.

Ibiki told her, "We just need to make sure all of that explanation is 100% truth."

Zemaria said, "Ibiki, I have no reason to lie about what happened. I already feel horrible about it. I didn't do it on purpose. Hidan managed to get Asuma's blood and tried his ritual again. He must have known who wasn't paying attention and that the person would attack him."

They had a long talk. Zemaria told him what she had told Iruka. None of it was done on purpose on her part. The Anbu were brought in to tap into her memory to find out if she was missing anything important about how it happened. After almost an hour they came to the conclusion she had been telling the truth after all.


	10. Chapter 10: Mission Suspension

**Chapter Ten**

**Mission Suspension**

The Anbu released Zemaria but told her to watch herself. Two months she wasn't allowed to be on missions. What was she to do? Missions were her income. She went home and Shikamaru was there this time. He was sitting in the living area playing a game of Shogi by himself. Zemaria was about to walk over to him until he threw the game board.

"Shikkie-Chan..." she said softly.

He finally noticed her presence, "Zem... I didn't know you came in."

She stuttered a bit, "Are- are you- okay?"

"Don't worry about me. I'm- fine," he said.

"Shikamaru, if you need to let your emotions how still... you know I'm here," she walked over to him and knelt down, "Please. Everyone could use a shoulder to cry on when they're upset and need to grieve."

He let his whole body relax. Collapsing, he fell forward his head rested on Zemaria's shoulder. She wrapped one arm around his body and the other around the back of his head. He let himself cry. Zemaria gently touched her lips and side of her face against the front of his head. They stayed like that the rest of the night.

Eventually they fell asleep in their position. They didn't even hear the doorbell the next morning. Shikaku entered figuring they were both sound asleep in the bedroom but instead he found them together in the living area. He didn't know if he should wake them or not. Tsunade wanted to give Shikamaru a new mission.

"Shikamaru," he walked over to them, "Shikamaru, wake up."

"Mm..." Shikamaru barely stirred.

"Shikamaru! Wake up!" Shikaku yelled.

He slowly woke up, "Dad?"

Shikamaru carefully maneuvered himself around so he wouldn't wake Zemaria up. He scooped her up and started up the steps. He asked his dad to wait until he came back down. He just wanted to get Zemaria up to the bedroom. Shikaku nodded and waited downstairs.

"Shikamaru, Lady Hokage has a new mission for you," Shikaku informed him once he came back down.

"Already? That was fast. I only got back from my mission just yesterday," he said.

"Well, she has another one for you and Asuma's service will be tomorrow," Shikaku informed.

When Asuma whispered into Shikamaru's ear, he had told him to keep an eye on Kurenai and take care of her and their daughter. Shikamaru cleaned himself up and left. Later that day, Zemaria woke up. She got dressed and decided to work on her training since she wasn't going to be on missions for a couple of months. Kakashi found her at the training ground where team seven was first brought together.

"Lady Zemaria, I didn't expect you to be here," he said.

"Kakashi-Sensei... I just thought I'd do a little solo training," she told him

He could tell she was a little upset, "You just don't like being suspended from missions."

She shook her head, "Nope. I don't. Two years it's been... since Sasuke left. It's not like I every really cared about him but he was still a Leaf Shinobi and a comrade."

"Of the four of you, you and Sasuke could always make the most progress. But Naruto I'm sure could surpass both of you," he said intimidating her.

"How do you figure that Sensei?" She asked narrowing her eyes.

"Well, Naruto _does_ possess a great amount of power not only because of the nine-tailed fox but also because of who his father was," he told her.

Zemaria thought a second, "Oh? Let me guess, his father was the Fourth Hokage?"

Kakashi said, "You're smart just like Sakura and Sasuke. Yes, the Fourth Hokage was Naruto's father. There aren't too many people that know that. The Third Hokage made a decree that the knowledge of Naruto's father would be kept secret. He feared that Naruto would be even further isolated because of who he was related to."

"So by birth right, Naruto would be next in line to being Hokage after Mother. Although, I should be the one next in line as the First Hokage's Great Granddaughter and the daughter of the Fifth Hokage," she said to him.

"I have doubts that Lady Hokage would entrust the Village to you with everything that has happened within the last two years," he said.

She groaned and bared her teeth. Doing the hand signs she surprised Kakashi by activated Chidori. Being that she was incapable of using wind style Jutsu, it was only natural that she would figure out how to use Chidori. He stood there in shock. He never taught her that Jutsu.

"You aren't seriously going to do this are you?" He asked and activated _his_ Chidori.

"Let's train Sensei!" She attacked him at full force.

Kakashi's reflexes caused his Chidori and Zemaria's to collide with each other. They both flew in opposite directions. Zemaria slammed against a tree. Kakashi was able to avoid hitting a tree. Zemaria unsteadily stood herself up. She stared at Kakashi with pure evil in her eyes. In reality, she was mad about being put on a mission suspension. Her aim wasn't to kill Kakashi. It was just her way of needing to let off a little steam.

"I know you don't actually want to kill me. So what's your goal with this?" He asked.

"Forbidden Art: Fires of Death," she said as flames appeared around Kakashi.

They started whipping around. Kakashi realized that she had said 'forbidden art' which meant she was using a forbidden Jutsu. Her Jutsu though, was not only forbidden it was also a Genjutsu. It was a powerful technique she had developed during her time in the Akatsuki. She used it during her missions with them and took down plenty of people with it.

"This is- Genjutsu," he observed and pushed up his headband showing his Sharingan.

"Are you going to get serious now Sensei?" She asked.

"It's not really like you're giving me much of a choice," he said.

As their battle took place, Neji happened by. Kakashi was actually getting his butt kicked by Zemaria. Maybe it was because she wasn't just the daughter of Tsunade but also of Orochimaru; Orochimaru whom made it a habit of developing new Jutsu most of which were forbidden. She really was starting to take after her father. Neji observed them for a few minutes and realized that she was more than just sparring with Kakashi. He decided the right thing to do was to put a stop to the battle.

"Gentle Fist!" He yelled as he managed to slam his palm against her chest.

She immediately coughed up a bit of blood, "N- Neji?"

She dropped to the ground barely breathing. Kakashi was still able to stand. Zemaria tried to keep her eyes open. Kakashi slowly made his way over to Neji.

"Lady Zemaria..." he said, "Neji, why did you interfere?"

Kakashi was badly injured. Zemaria had managed to drag her claws across his chest injecting her poison in him. Had she really been trying to kill him this whole time? Neji looked at him concerned.

"From where I was standing, she appeared to be determined on killing you. She's not dead though. I merely rendered her useless," he said.

She coughed a bit and struggled to her feet. Managing to stand, she moved back and forth trying to keep her balance. With a shaky hand, she removed a syringe from her pouch. Neji soon realized that she had poisoned Kakashi.

"Sensei... here," she placed the syringe in his hand, "Take this. It will disperse the poison in your body."

She dropped to her knees again before falling unconscious. Neji told him to take it otherwise he'd be dead in ten minutes and not even Lady Tsunade could come up with an antidote. Kakashi quickly injected himself with the antidote. Shizune found them and rushed over to Zemaria.

"Lady Zemaria!" She yelled and kneeled beside her.

Shizune gently rolled her on her back. Her mouth dripped with blood. Her once shallow breathing was now still. Shizune checked for a pulse and then laid her head on her chest for a heartbeat. There was nothing.

"She's not breathing! There's no pulse!" She yelled concerned now.

"Lady Zemaria!" A Medical Ninja yelled and rushed to her aid.

"Impossible! I- I didn't hit her that hard with Gentle Fist. She shouldn't be dead..." Neji stood back in shock.

Shizune and the medical squad went to work to start her heart again. Her heart still would not beat. Out of nowhere, Zemaria starts ascending up from the ground just as Orochimaru was able to do. Everyone stares in shocked.

"Wait, does that mean the one dead is a clone?" Kakashi asked.

"No. You forget who my father is. I suppose it's like father like daughter. As my Father had done in the past, I had ultimately surpassed his attempt to create an immortality Jutsu. The only difference is that I don't need to sacrifice another's body," she explained.

Zemaria was still injured regardless of using the Immortality Jutsu to avoid the worst. Tsunade appeared behind Zemaria, her hands on her hips and a not so pleasant expression on her face. She was far from happy about Zemaria's behavior.

Shizune gasped lightly, "Lady Tsunade."

Zemaria sighed not turning to face her Mother, "Before you lecture me Mother, I had no intensions of killing my Sensei. If Neji hadn't interfered, it would have been a lot easier and quicker to disperse the poison without wasting one of my pre-made antidotes in my syringes. I'd have just coated a kunai with the antidote and made a new cut on him to cure it."

"Zemaria, what has happened to you all of a sudden?" Tsunade asked her.

"Gee Mother, I don't know. Maybe the fact that no matter how many times I've tried to explain what happened during my mission you refuse to listen!" She yelled at her and attacked her own Mother.

Tsunade dodged her attacks, "Are you seriously trying to take _me_ on?"

Zemaria could only use Taijutsu thanks to Neji and his gentle fist. If she had anticipated his interference she'd have pulled the same move as she did during the Chuunin exam and used a barrier of her poison to protect her chakra points. But this time she had been taken off guard by his attack. Most of her Chakra points had been closed off.

Zemaria didn't have too much time before she'd really lose consciousness. She kept attacking with as much strength and force as possible using only Taijutsu. Since Tsunade was her mother, she possessed the same type of monstrous strength as her. They were in such a heated battle that the whole terrain started changing.

"Lady Zemaria! You have to stop this right now!" Shizune yelled.

"Striking Shadow Snake!" Anko had gotten word about Zemaria and hurried over.

Striking Shadow Snake was originally Orochimaru's move. Zemaria and Anko learned it from him. The snakes wrapped around Zemaria's body restraining her. She struggled to break free. Because of her injury from Neji, she was a lot easier to take down.

Tsunade panted lightly, "I never would have thought I'd have to fight my own daughter. This time you weren't forced to fight me because of Orochimaru. What were you thinking?" She walked over to her.

Zemaria groaned in anger and frustration, "Just lift the damn suspension! How do you _expect_ me to let off steam when you keep me from going on missions like this? I've told you countless times that Asuma's death wasn't my fault completely!"

"I'm fully aware of the whole story. Iruka took the liberty of having me listen to him tell me. My decision however, stands strong. It may appear to you that I'm punishing you. However, I have other reasons for this decision. All you have to do is behave yourself," she told her.

"Other reasons? Like what?" Zemaria asked pouting a bit.

Tsunade crossed her arms, "My reasons are my own. Now, because of your rash actions towards Kakashi and myself... you are to _now_ be punished. For such punishment you will carry out any and all tasks I give to you. Shizune will oversee your tasks to make sure you're carrying them out."

"But I-," she started.

"No buts! This is _not_ an option!" She yelled at her.

Zemaria gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. She then had a sudden pain in her chest where Neji struck her before she used the Immortality Jutsu. She winced at the pain and fell to her knees. Shizune quickly went to her aid and started to heal her. Tsunade instructed Anko to tie Zemaria's hands behind her just in case she lost her cool again.

It was a shame Shikamaru was out of the Village on a mission and would be for a few days. If there was one thing Zemaria hated the most it was being her Mother's lackey and maid. Tsunade told Anko to take Zemaria to the Hokage building. She nodded and took her. Kakashi went to the hospital to get his injuries taken care of and Neji was told to go with Tsunade.

"Neji, Shizune will be in charge or Zemaria during her punishment however, I'd like you to keep an eye on her as well. Just don't overdo it," she told him.

"Yes Lady Hokage," he answered.

Zemaria left with Shizune and Neji. For the next several days, Zemaria was ordered to carry out tasks that normally would be the job of Shizune. Today's task was document retrieval. She was ordered to move documents from the received box. There were a _lot_ of documents this time since Tsunade always lacked being able to take care of her important documents on time.

"Damn mother... she needs to learn to keep up with her stupid documents..." Zemaria muttered as she went in the direction of Tsunade's office.

The stack of documents blocked her vision it was so tall in her arms. She stumbled down the hall muttering under her breath cursing her situation. As she approached her mother's office, she attempted to knock on the door.

"Enter," Tsunade said behind her desk.

The door slowly opened. Zemaria teetered her way inside before losing her balance. The stack tilted forward and it and Zemaria fell to the floor. "I have those documents for you mother," she said.

"Now you have to organize them because you dropped the entire stack," she told her.

"Oh for the love of-," Zemaria stopped mid-sentence after seeing Neji's obscenely scary looking expression.

She quickly re-stacked all of the documents before putting them all in order. If her mother wasn't scary enough, Neji's glare was like looking into the face of death itself. Tsunade gave Zemaria new instructions to separate the stack of documents according to importance. Those that were top priority would be first on her desk. As the level of importance went down, the stacks ended up on the floor.

It was hours before Zemaria's day was finished. Tsunade went through the stacks document by document. With Zemaria's help she had finally widdled the stacks down. Zemaria slunk away to her room and flopped down on the bed. She was exhausted from the day and wished her mother would lift the suspension on her.


End file.
